E-numbers / Other additives / E1208
also: Copovidone · PVP-VA copolymer · Copolyvidone
A synthetic polymer used as a coating and binding agent in food supplement tablets and capsules. Passes through the gut largely unabsorbed.
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A synthetic copolymer made from two monomers: vinylpyrrolidone and vinyl acetate.
A synthetic copolymer made from two monomers: vinylpyrrolidone and vinyl acetate. The ratio of the two monomers can vary, producing polymers of different molecular weights and physical properties. It is abbreviated PVP/VA. In food use, it appears as a fine white powder.
It acts as a film-forming coating agent and binder in solid food supplements (tablets, capsules). The coating helps tablets hold together, controls how quickly they dissolve, and protects the active ingredients from moisture. Its large polymer chains are too big to cross the gut wall in meaningful amounts, so most of what is ingested passes out in the faeces.
Almost exclusively in food supplement tablets and capsules, where it functions as a coating or binding agent. It is not used in conventional everyday foods such as bread, drinks, or confectionery. On a label it appears as 'polyvinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate copolymer' or 'E1208' in the ingredients list of supplement products.
Because PVP/VA is a high-molecular-weight polymer, the gut does not absorb it to any significant extent. Animal studies show it is largely excreted intact in the faeces. This limited absorption is central to the regulatory assessment that dietary exposure from supplement use is very low.
PVP/VA copolymer is poorly absorbed orally and is largely excreted intact in the faeces in animal studies.
Long-term animal feeding studies in rats (24 months) and dogs (52 weeks) found no adverse effects at very high doses, well above any realistic human exposure from food supplement use. The studies established high no-observed-adverse-effect levels. The toxicological database was considered too limited for EFSA to set a formal numerical ADI, but a calculated margin of safety was assessed as acceptable.
Oral administration to rats for 24 months and to dogs for 52 weeks produced no-observed-adverse-effect levels of 2800 mg/kg body weight/day and 2500 mg/kg body weight/day respectively, at the highest doses tested.
The calculated margin of safety from realistic food supplement use ranged from approximately 43 to 120 for adults and 63 to 175 for children, which EFSA considered acceptable.
The manufacturing process for PVP/VA can leave trace amounts of hydrazine, a genotoxic impurity. The EU approved the additive on the condition that hydrazine residue in the final food product does not exceed 1.0 mg/kg. EFSA assessed this limit as unlikely to present a concern given the small amounts used in supplement tablets and the infrequent intake typical of supplement users. However, the data package reviewed was limited, and the hydrazine specification is a condition of authorisation, not a clean bill of health.
Hydrazine, a genotoxic impurity from manufacture, was proposed at a maximum residue level of 1.0 mg/kg in the final product. EFSA concluded this was unlikely to present a safety concern at the proposed use levels.
No specific population is advised to avoid this additive under current regulatory guidance. People with known hypersensitivity to PVP-class polymers (a rare occurrence, primarily reported in medical/cosmetic contexts) should check labels of supplement tablets and capsules, where it will appear as 'E1208' or 'polyvinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate copolymer'.
E1208 is a niche industrial polymer used in only one food category: supplement tablets and capsules. It is not an ingredient in everyday food and drink. The science reviewed by EFSA in 2010 was based on a limited toxicology package, which is why no formal ADI was set. The hydrazine impurity cap is a genuine regulatory condition, not a formality. For the typical supplement user taking one or two tablets a day, exposure to both the polymer and any residual hydrazine is very small. Whether that small exposure over decades is entirely without consequence has not been studied in humans.
No. E1208 is on the UK FSA approved additives list and is permitted in solid food supplements (tablets and capsules) under assimilated EU Regulation 1333/2008, as extended by EU Regulation 264/2014 and retained in UK law post-Brexit.
The manufacturing process can leave trace amounts of hydrazine, which is genotoxic. EU and UK rules cap the hydrazine residue at no more than 1.0 mg/kg in the finished product. EFSA reviewed this limit and concluded it was unlikely to be a concern at the very small amounts used in supplement tablets, though the review noted the data were limited.
Almost exclusively supplement tablets and capsules. It is a coating and binding agent and is not permitted or used in mainstream foods such as bread, drinks, snacks, or confectionery. If you take multivitamin or mineral supplement tablets, E1208 may appear in the ingredients list.
Yes. Polyvinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate copolymer is a fully synthetic polymer derived from petrochemical feedstocks. It contains no animal-derived ingredients.
Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
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