E1000 — Cholic acid
Why it’s used
A bile acid used in very small amounts as an emulsifier, primarily in some infant formula and dietetic/medical foods, to help disperse fats. Commercially it is extracted and purified from the bile of cattle or sheep (or produced semi-synthetically starting from that same animal-derived bile acid feedstock) rather than made from a fully synthetic, non-animal starting material.
Other names
Cholalic acid, 3,7,12-Trihydroxycholan-24-oic acid, Cholalin
Diet flags
Regulatory status
Cholic acid is tracked in FDA's Substances Added to Food inventory (CAS 81-25-4) with a historical Select Committee on GRAS Substances (SCOGS) review, but no current dedicated food-additive listing was found in 21 CFR Parts 172 or 184; its only clearly FDA-approved current use is as the active ingredient in the prescription drug Cholbam for bile acid synthesis disorders, not as a general-purpose food additive. Source (2026-07-24)
Cholic acid (E 1000) has specifications set in Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 and is authorised under Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, but only for a narrow set of specific food categories rather than general food use. Source (2026-07-24)
Regulatory status by region
The US and EU diverge in practice: the US has no general food-additive authorization for cholic acid, and its only confirmed FDA-approved use is as a prescription drug for rare bile acid disorders, not as a food ingredient. The EU, by contrast, does list cholic acid as an authorised food additive (E 1000) with formal purity specifications, though its permitted uses are narrow and it is rarely encountered in mainstream retail food. Both jurisdictions' sourcing rests on the same production route — extraction/purification from cattle or sheep bile — which is why this additive is treated as non-vegan and non-vegetarian regardless of jurisdiction.
Same divergence as noted on the FDA side, from the EU's own additive listing: Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 sets formal purity specifications for cholic acid, and Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 authorises E 1000 for a defined but narrow set of food categories — a standing food-additive status the US has never granted. Where FDA's only current approval routes cholic acid through prescription-drug regulation (Cholbam, for bile acid synthesis disorders) rather than food law, the EU has kept it within its additive framework, even though actual retail use under E 1000 remains uncommon.
Found in these products
None of the products in our database currently contain E1000.