A stabiliser is a substance that keeps the physico-chemical state of a food unchanged. The group includes substances that keep two immiscible substances evenly dispersed, substances that keep or intensify an existing colour, and substances that increase the binding capacity of the food.
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.
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Fun fact. Xanthan gum (E 415) is a high molecular weight polysaccharide produced by a pure-culture fermentation of a carbohydrate with strains of the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris. According to information from an interested party given to EFSA, it is produced by aerobic submerged fermentation, using a microorganism found naturally on cabbages. According to the literature, the bacterium is grown batch-wise in a medium containing a nitrogen source, phosphate and magnesium ions, trace elements and carbohydrates such as glucose and sucrose. The gum is then extracted from the culture broth after the bacterial cells are removed, precipitated with ethanol or propan-2-ol, dried, and ground and sieved into a marketable product. Adding locust bean gum or guar gum to a solution of xanthan gum at room temperature causes a synergistic increase in viscosity. Source: Re-evaluation of xanthan gum (E 415) as a food additive (EFSA Journal, 2017)
Stabilisers are found in foods that need to keep their state, for instance a mixture that should not separate. Each code has its own page with the functions given in Circular 24/2019/TT-BYT; for example guar gum (E412), carob bean gum (E410) and xanthan gum (E415) are all listed with the function stabiliser.
Labels usually write the group name followed by the INS number in brackets, for example “stabiliser (412)”, or the code E412, or the name of the substance (guar gum). 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: E331 (sodium citrates), E410 (carob bean gum), E412 (guar gum), E415 (xanthan gum), E1412 (distarch phosphate). All of them are named in Appendix 1 of Circular 24/2019/TT-BYT.
Updated 28 October 2026
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