2,3-Pentanedione
A buttery-flavored diketone related to diacetyl.
No policy
No HigherBar policy on this ingredient.
Approved in 3 of 7 tracked registries, no published record in 4.
2,3-Pentanedione is a diketone with a buttery, creamy aroma, structurally similar to diacetyl and used in butter and dairy flavor formulations, including some diacetyl-free butter flavors. Workplace inhalation of concentrated flavoring vapors containing this compound has been linked to lung damage in flavor-manufacturing workers, a hazard tied to occupational exposure rather than to eating flavored foods.
What each registry publishes about 2,3-pentanedione.
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 3 of 7 tracked registries, no published record in 4. Last verified Oct 1, 2026.
| Registry | Status | Published record |
|---|---|---|
| United States (FDA) | Approvedfood additive | Technical effect: FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT |
| European Union (EFSA) | Approvedflavor | |
| United Kingdom (FSA) | Approvedflavor | |
| Codex Alimentarius (JECFA) | No published data | Our sources hold no evidenced record here. That is not a clearance and not a ban. |
| 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) | No published data | Our sources hold no evidenced record here. That is not a clearance and not a ban. |
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.