E-numbers / Other additives / E944
A hydrocarbon gas used as a propellant to push food out of aerosol cans. It evaporates on release and does not remain in the food you eat.
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Propane (C3H8) is a three-carbon alkane gas that is a gas at room temperature.
Propane (C3H8) is a three-carbon alkane gas that is a gas at room temperature. The same substance is used as a fuel, but food-grade propane is produced to strict purity specifications including a limit on the toxic impurity 1,3-butadiene. It is colourless and odourless.
Propane sits in the headspace of a pressurised aerosol can. When the nozzle is pressed, the pressure differential forces the food product out as a fine mist or stream. Because propane boils at around minus 42 degrees Celsius, it immediately vaporises and disperses into the air on leaving the can. Any residue remaining in the sprayed food drops below 1mg/kg within about an hour.
Mainly found in vegetable oil pan sprays used in professional catering kitchens, and in water-based emulsion sprays. Also permitted in food colour preparations at trace residue levels. Its use in vegetable oil pan spray is restricted to professional (non-consumer) use under UK and EU rules. On a label it appears as 'propane' or 'E944' in the ingredients list.
Because propane is a gas at room temperature, it evaporates almost entirely when an aerosol is used. The EFSA Panel on Food Additives concluded that dietary exposure through permitted food uses is extremely low or negligible. No numerical acceptable daily intake was set, because a quantitative exposure assessment was considered unnecessary given the physicochemical properties and the very low residues in food.
The EFSA Panel concluded that use of propane (E 944) as a food additive at currently permitted uses and levels does not raise a safety concern, and that dietary exposure is extremely low or negligible based on its physicochemical properties.
Commercial propane can contain traces of 1,3-butadiene, a substance classified by IARC as a Group 1 human carcinogen linked to leukaemia in workers with prolonged occupational exposure. Under the CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, 1,3-butadiene carries a harmonised classification as a Category 1A carcinogen and a Category 1B germ cell mutagen; ECHA considers it a non-threshold carcinogen. EU and UK specifications cap the 1,3-butadiene impurity in food-grade propane at no more than 0.1% by volume, in line with the CLP Regulation limit for gases containing this impurity. EFSA concluded that because 1,3-butadiene shares the same high volatility as propane, it also evaporates under permitted use conditions, resulting in negligible dietary exposure. EFSA did flag a data gap: manufacturers provided no information on their production methods, leaving uncertainty about whether other unlisted impurities might be present.
1,3-Butadiene is classified as carcinogenic to humans (IARC Group 1) on the basis of sufficient evidence of an increased risk for leukaemia in occupationally exposed workers.
According to the CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, 1,3-butadiene is classified as a Category 1A carcinogen and a Category 1B germ cell mutagen. ECHA considers 1,3-butadiene to be a non-threshold carcinogen. The same classifications apply to butane and isobutane when containing 0.1% or more of 1,3-butadiene.
EU specifications limit 1,3-butadiene in food-grade propane, butane and isobutane to not more than 0.1% v/v. EFSA found that, given the high volatility of 1,3-butadiene, dietary exposure from its presence as an impurity in food-additive propane is negligible under permitted use conditions.
EFSA identified a data gap: no manufacturer provided information on production methods for food-grade propane, butane or isobutane, leaving uncertainties about the potential presence of impurities beyond 1,3-butadiene that are not listed in current EU specifications.
When a food aerosol is sprayed, some propane gas is released into the surrounding air. EFSA assessed this route and concluded that inhalation exposure during normal use is not toxicologically relevant for the food-additive safety assessment. Animal inhalation studies identified no-observed-adverse-effect concentrations in the range of 3,000 to 12,000 parts per million, concentrations far above anything a consumer would encounter from a brief kitchen spray.
Animal inhalation studies for the C3 to C4 alkanes found no-observed-adverse-effect concentrations of 3,000 to 12,000 ppm. EFSA concluded that inhalation from food use is not toxicologically relevant for the consumer safety assessment of these food additives.
No group is identified as needing to avoid E944 specifically. People with reactive airways or asthma may wish to minimise general aerosol spray exposure, as any fine aerosol mist can be an airway irritant, but this applies to aerosol products broadly, not to propane as a food additive. On a label it appears as 'propane' or 'E944'.
Propane sits in an unusual position as a food additive: by the time you consume the product it sprayed, the additive itself has almost entirely gone. The science on E944 is straightforward in one direction and carries a genuine caveat in another. The straightforward part: propane evaporates so readily that the EFSA panel considered a detailed dietary exposure calculation unnecessary, and no acceptable daily intake figure was needed. The caveat: commercial propane can contain traces of 1,3-butadiene, a substance IARC classifies as a Group 1 carcinogen linked to leukaemia in workers, and which the CLP Regulation classifies as a Category 1A carcinogen and Category 1B germ cell mutagen. Food-grade specifications cap the impurity and EFSA concluded it too evaporates under use conditions, but the panel also noted that manufacturers did not supply data on production methods, so the full picture of minor impurities in commercial food-grade propane is not fully documented. That data gap was flagged in the 2025 EFSA opinion and has not yet been closed.
No. E944 (propane) is an approved food additive in the UK under the assimilated version of EU Regulation 1333/2008. It is permitted as a propellant in vegetable oil pan spray (professional use only), water-based emulsion spray, and in food colour preparations at a maximum residual of 1mg/kg.
Only at trace levels, if at all. Propane boils at minus 42 degrees Celsius, so it evaporates almost immediately on leaving the aerosol can. The EU maximum residual limit for food colour preparations is 1mg/kg, and EFSA found that residues in oil sprays fall below this within about an hour of application.
Mainly professional catering products such as vegetable oil pan sprays used to grease cooking equipment, and water-based emulsion sprays. The use in vegetable oil pan spray is restricted to professional (non-consumer) use under current UK and EU rules. It may also appear in food colour preparations used professionally.
Yes. Propane is a hydrocarbon gas with no animal-derived ingredients.
Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
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