1,3-Butylene Glycol
Humectant and solvent used in food and flavor formulations.
No policy
No HigherBar policy on this ingredient.
Approved in 5 of 7 tracked registries, no published record in 2.
1,3-Butylene glycol (1,3-butanediol) is a four-carbon diol that works as a humectant, solvent, and flavor carrier in foods and beverages. It's recognized as GRAS for food use by the FDA in the US, and is even more widely used as a solvent and moisturizing ingredient in cosmetics.
What each registry publishes about 1,3-butylene glycol.
Every row comes from a published regulator source, linked so you can read it yourself. "Prohibited" means a regulator has affirmatively banned it; "not authorized" means it has never been cleared for that use there. The two are not the same thing, so we never collapse them.
Approved in 5 of 7 tracked registries, no published record in 2. Last verified Oct 1, 2026.
| Registry | Status | Published record |
|---|---|---|
| United States (FDA) | Approvedfood additive | Technical effect: FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE |
| European Union (EFSA) | Approvedflavor | |
| United Kingdom (FSA) | Approvedflavor | |
| Codex Alimentarius (JECFA) | Approvedfood additive | |
| Japan (CAA) | No published data | Our sources hold no evidenced record here. That is not a clearance and not a ban. |
| Australia & New Zealand (FSANZ) | No published data | Our sources hold no evidenced record here. That is not a clearance and not a ban. |
| Canada (Health Canada) | Approvedfood additive | Good Manufacturing Practice | n/a |
We publish only evidenced regulatory rows, each with its source. Coverage is uneven across registries, and a missing row is reported as missing.
Check a whole label, not just one ingredient.
Paste a product's full ingredient list and get this same record for every ingredient we can identify, plus an honest "not recognized" for the rest.