E-numbers / Flavour enhancers / E627
also: sodium 5'-guanylate · GMP · disodium 5'-guanosine monophosphate
A flavour enhancer that multiplies the savoury taste of MSG. It is a purine, so it adds to uric acid, which matters for people with gout.
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Pork, Iodised Salt (Salt, Potassium Iodate), Dextrose, Spices, Pork Fat, Flavour Enhancers (Monosodium Glutamate, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate), Preservative (Sodium Nitrite), Beechwood Smoke
The body breaks it down into uric acid.
214
of the 43,325 UK supermarket foods we checked declare E627 in their ingredients
That is 0.5%, counted by its code or its name.
Counted by NutraSafe from UK supermarket ingredient lists, September 2026. How we counted
Why it’s worth knowing. The body breaks it down into uric acid. Regular intake can add to gout attacks or uric acid kidney stones in people prone to them.
Disodium guanylate is the sodium salt of guanylic acid, a building block of the genetic material RNA. It is made by breaking down yeast extract or dried fish, or by fermentation, then purified into a white powder with little taste of its own.
It works on the same savoury taste receptors on the tongue as MSG (E621). A small amount makes the savoury taste of MSG much stronger, so makers can use less MSG and still get a bigger hit. At food amounts it adds little savoury taste on its own. Its job is to boost.
Instant noodles and packet soups, crisps and savoury snacks, stock cubes and bouillon powder, seasoning mixes, processed meat, flavoured crackers, ready meals and powdered sauce mixes. It is almost always used with E621 (MSG) or E631 (disodium inosinate). UK labels call it disodium guanylate, flavour enhancer (627) or guanylate.
Disodium guanylate is a purine. The body breaks it down into uric acid. In people who already make too much uric acid or clear it poorly, extra purines can raise blood uric acid and set off or worsen gout attacks. What comes from additives adds to the purines in red meat, offal and some fish.
In a large study of men, those who ate the most meat and seafood, the main sources of purines, had more gout.
UK gout guidance advises people with gout to cut down on purine-rich foods.
E627 is nearly always used with MSG, and some people blame headaches or flushing on foods containing the pair. Blinded trials have not shown that MSG at meal-sized amounts causes these effects reliably, and they did not test guanylate on its own. On a real label the two nearly always come together.
Blinded trials of MSG at amounts like those in a meal found no consistent reactions in people who said they were sensitive to it. The effect of added guanylate was not tested separately.
E627 is allowed because of a 1990 review by the EU's Scientific Committee on Food, which set no numerical daily limit for the ribonucleotides (E626 to E635) as a group. European reviewers are looking at the group again, and have said they are missing data on how most of these additives are made and what impurities they carry.
The current approval of E626 to E635 rests on a 1990 opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food, which set a group daily limit of not specified.
Reviewers said there is no information on manufacturing, impurities and solubility for most of the ribonucleotides, and that they would draft their opinion with these data gaps.
Disodium guanylate can be made from dried fish, from yeast or by fermentation. So it may not be vegan, and it could in principle carry traces of fish protein, depending on how well it is purified. Makers do not usually say which source they used.
Disodium guanylate is made from dried fish or from yeast. How much fish protein remains depends on the purification, and the source is not consistently shown on labels.
Daily limit. None set (EU Scientific Committee on Food, 1990). European reviewers are re-examining it.
People with gout, high uric acid or a history of uric acid kidney stones. Vegans and vegetarians should know it is often made from fish or yeast, and ask the maker if the source matters. People with a fish allergy who react to traces should be careful unless the maker confirms a source other than fish. Look for disodium guanylate, flavour enhancer (627) or E627.
For people without gout or uric acid problems, disodium guanylate is handled by the body like any other purine. It turns up almost only in heavily processed savoury food, so eating a lot of it means eating a lot of that kind of food. Two things are genuinely open. The fish question is unsettled in practice: it may be made from fish, purification varies between makers, and the label rarely says the source. And the official safety review is decades old, with the new one still under way and short of data.
No. Disodium guanylate is approved in the UK and is on the Food Standards Agency's list.
It can add to one in people already prone to gout. It is a purine, and the body breaks it down into uric acid. If you manage gout through diet, foods listing E627, E631 or E635 are worth cutting alongside high-purine foods such as red meat and offal.
Mainly instant noodles, packet soups, stock cubes, crisps and snack seasonings, processed meat, flavoured crackers and ready meals. It is almost never used alone: look for it next to E621 (MSG) or E631 (disodium inosinate).
Not reliably. It is often made from dried fish, such as bonito or sardines, or from yeast, and the source is rarely shown on the pack. If you are vegan or avoid fish, ask the maker before eating products containing it.
Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
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