Tocopherols
Natural vitamin E extracted from vegetable oils, added to stop fats and oils going rancid in packaged food.
What is it?
A mixture of tocopherols (alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-tocopherol) extracted from plant sources, principally soybean, sunflower, rapeseed, and wheatgerm oils. These are the natural forms of vitamin E, not synthesised in a laboratory. The mixture is standardised for antioxidant activity and is the same family of compounds the body needs as a fat-soluble vitamin.
What does it do?
Tocopherols interrupt the chain reaction of fat oxidation by donating a hydrogen atom to free radicals, neutralising them before they can degrade oils and fats. This prevents the off-flavours, rancid smells, and colour changes that form when polyunsaturated fats oxidise. The antioxidant is consumed in the process, so higher concentrations of polyunsaturated fats require more tocopherol protection.
Where you will see it
Primarily used in vegetable oils, margarines, spreads, and reduced-fat products. Also in breakfast cereals, infant formula, dried soups, dehydrated foods, nut products, snack foods containing nuts or seeds, chewing gum, and fat-based confectionery coatings. On a label it appears as 'antioxidant (E306)', 'tocopherols', or 'vitamin E (E306)'.
What the science says
Vitamin E as a nutrient
At the levels used in food, E306 also contributes to dietary vitamin E intake. Vitamin E is an essential fat-soluble vitamin with well-established roles in protecting cell membranes from oxidative damage and supporting immune function. The UK Reference Nutrient Intake for adults is 4mg per day for women and above 3mg for men. Food additive use typically contributes a small fraction of daily intake.
Alpha-tocopherol is the form of vitamin E most active in human tissues and is the basis for reference values; dietary tocopherols at normal intake levels are well-established as an essential nutrient.
EFSA re-evaluated tocopherols as food additives in 2015 and concluded that no numerical ADI was needed, because they are natural constituents of food and the dietary exposures as additives are small relative to normal dietary intake.
High-dose supplementation - a separate question from food use
At the doses used in packaged food, E306 raises no concern. The picture is different for high-dose supplementation, where some large randomised trials found no benefit and one meta-analysis found a small increase in all-cause mortality at doses above 400 IU per day. This is a supplementation question, not a food-additive question, but it is worth understanding the distinction between additive use and tablet doses.
A meta-analysis of 19 clinical trials found that high-dose vitamin E supplementation (400 IU/day or more) was associated with a small but statistically significant increase in all-cause mortality; doses below 400 IU showed no such signal.
The SELECT trial found that long-term vitamin E supplementation at 400 IU/day in healthy men was associated with a modest increased risk of prostate cancer diagnosis compared with placebo.
EFSA noted that these supplementation findings arise at intakes far above what is possible through food and food-additive exposure combined, and did not consider them relevant to the food-additive assessment.
Soya-derived tocopherols and allergen labelling
Most commercial tocopherol concentrates are extracted from soybean oil. The extraction and refining process typically removes soy protein to levels well below the threshold for triggering soy allergy in practice. However, UK and EU food law does not require a specific allergen declaration for soya-derived tocopherols used as additives, because the protein is largely absent. People with severe soya allergy may still wish to take note.
Soy tocopherols are not listed as a declarable allergen under assimilated Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 because the processing removes proteins to trace levels; however, precautionary consideration for severe soya allergy cannot be fully excluded in the literature.
Where it stands with the regulators
Who should be careful
People with severe soya allergy may want to check with the manufacturer, as most commercial tocopherol concentrates are extracted from soybean oil, though protein is largely removed in processing. Look for 'tocopherols (E306)' or 'antioxidant (E306)' on the label.
The honest read
E306 is one of the most ordinary additives in the food supply. It is the natural form of vitamin E, extracted from the same plant oils already eaten as part of a normal diet, and used to stop packaged fats going rancid. The food-additive science is settled and uncontroversial. A separate and genuinely contested question is whether taking vitamin E supplements at high tablet doses (400 IU per day and above) carries health risks - some large trials suggest it might. But the doses involved in supplement use are many times higher than what any realistic diet and food-additive exposure could deliver. Those findings say nothing about E306 as used in packaged food.
Related additives
Common questions
Is E306 banned in the UK?
No. Tocopherols (E306) are approved antioxidants in the UK under the UK FSA approved-additives list and assimilated EU Regulation 1333/2008. There are no bans or restrictions in the UK post-Brexit.
Is E306 the same as vitamin E?
Yes, in practical terms. E306 is a natural mixture of tocopherols extracted from vegetable oils - the same compounds the body uses as vitamin E. It is distinct from E307 (synthetic alpha-tocopherol), though both belong to the same vitamin E family.
What foods contain E306?
Vegetable oils, margarines, reduced-fat spreads, breakfast cereals, nut and seed snacks, infant formula, dried soups and sauces, fat-based confectionery coatings, and chewing gum. On the label it typically appears as 'antioxidant (E306)', 'tocopherols', or 'vitamin E (E306)'.
Is E306 vegan?
Yes. Tocopherols used as E306 are extracted from plant sources - principally soybean, sunflower, rapeseed, and wheatgerm oils. No animal products are involved.
Sources
- EFSA ANS Panel: Re-evaluation of tocopherols (E306, E307, E308, E309) as food additives
- UK FSA: Approved additives and E numbers
- Miller et al.: Meta-analysis of high-dose vitamin E supplementation and all-cause mortality, Annals of Internal Medicine
- Klein et al. (SELECT): Vitamin E and the risk of prostate cancer, JAMA
- UK Food Information Regulations: assimilated EU Regulation 1169/2011 (allergen labelling)
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