A flour treatment agent is a substance, other than an emulsifier, added to flour or dough to improve its baking quality. On labels, this group is usually written as “flour treatment agent (300)”, or by the E or INS code of the substance.
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.
High risk on Yenzo's scale. The cases at this level: it is not permitted in Vietnam (Circular 24/2019); neither JECFA nor EFSA has an ADI for it; a regulator withdrew it for safety reasons and no evaluator kept an ADI; nitrites and nitrates (EFSA 2023). How we score →
Very low risk: no concern at the levels used in food. How we score →
Fun fact. Oxidant agents are frequently used in the baking industry to strengthen the gluten network and improve the quality of breads. Today ascorbic acid is widely used as an oxidant for this purpose. Its chemical-based version is the most used in food formulation, but ascorbic acid is also a natural substance found in fruits and vegetables. During dough mixing, in the presence of oxygen, it is converted by a natural enzyme in wheat flour (ascorbic acid oxidase) to its oxidant form, dehydro-L-ascorbic acid. New disulphide bonds then form, which keep the gluten proteins stable and increase gluten strength, producing breads with a higher loaf volume and a finer, more uniform crumb structure. Source: Assessing Acerola Powder as Substitute for Ascorbic Acid as a Bread Improver (Foods, 2022)
Flour treatment agents are added to flour or dough. According to the Yenzo page for E300, ascorbic acid is common in flour and bread, as well as in juices, jams, sausages and ham. Each code has its own page listing the products where it is usually found.
Labels usually write the group name followed by the INS number in brackets, for example “flour treatment agent (1100)”, or the code E1100, or the name of the substance (amylase). A substance may be written in any of these ways.
Yenzo does not rank additives. Some codes of this group that have a page on Yenzo: E300 (ascorbic acid), E341 (calcium phosphates), E516 (calcium sulphate), E1100 (amylase). All of them are named in Appendix 1 of Circular 24/2019/TT-BYT.
Updated 28 October 2026
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