YenzoWhich foods contain bleaching agents?
Yenzo has no source naming specific foods for this group. Each code in the group has its own page; see the page of that code.
Bleaching agents in food
A bleaching agent is a food additive (non-flour use) used to decolourize food. Bleaching agents do not include pigments. This definition follows the table of functional classes of Codex guideline CAC/GL 36-1989. In Appendix 1 of Circular 24/2019/TT-BYT, “bleaching agent” (chất tẩy màu) is one of the functions listed for some additives, for example E220.
Vietnam regulates additives through a list of permitted additives (Circular 24/2019/TT-BYT, referencing international Codex standards); a substance not on the list is not permitted in Vietnam, and that is the first tier of the Yenzo Scale — see how levels are set.
Fun fact. Codex keeps flour and other foods apart: a "bleaching agent" is a food additive of non-flour use that decolourizes food, while "flour bleaching agent" is a name for the class "flour treatment agent", added to flour or dough to improve its baking quality or colour. JECFA evaluated potassium bromate as a flour treatment agent at three meetings, and at the thirty-third it reduced the acceptable level of treatment of flour for bread making to 60 mg/kg. In the evaluation published in WHO Food Additives Series 30, JECFA concluded, on the basis of new safety data and new data on residual bromate in bread, that this use was not appropriate, and withdrew the previous acceptable level. It noted that alternatives were available. In US federal regulations (21 CFR), chlorine is among the optional bleaching ingredients for flour (section 137.105), and section 137.160 allows potassium bromate in enriched bromated flour up to 50 parts per million. Source: JECFA, Potassium bromate, WHO Food Additives Series 30 (with Codex CAC/GL 36-1989 and 21 CFR 137.105, 137.160)
Frequently asked questions about bleaching agents
How can I recognise bleaching agents on a label?
Labels usually write the group name with the INS number, for example “bleaching agent (220)”. A label may also write the E code, the INS code or the name of the substance. The same substance can be written in different ways.
Which bleaching agents are the most common?
Yenzo does not rank codes. The codes of this group with a page on Yenzo: E220 (sulphur dioxide), E221 (sodium sulphite), E223 (sodium metabisulphite), E224 (potassium metabisulphite). Each of them has a row in Appendix 1 of Circular 24/2019/TT-BYT with the function “chất tẩy màu” (bleaching agent).
Other categories
PreservativesColoursSweetenersFlavour enhancersEmulsifiersThickenersAntioxidantsAcidity regulatorsAnticaking agentsGlazing agentsStabilizersGelling agentsSequestrantsFlour treatment agentsHumectantsCarriersColour retention agentsFirming agentsEmulsifying saltsBulking agentsFoaming agentsRaising agentsPackaging gasesPropellantsAntifoaming agentsCarbonating agentsFlavourings
Updated 28 October 2026