E1504 — Ethyl acetate
Why it’s used
A small, volatile ester (formed from ethanol and acetic acid) with a sweet, solvent-like smell, used in food production as an extraction and flavour solvent — for example to help decaffeinate coffee and tea, and to carry and disperse flavouring compounds during manufacturing. It evaporates almost completely during processing, leaving only trace residues in the finished food.
Other names
Acetic ether, Ethyl ester of acetic acid, Vinegar naphtha
Diet flags
Regulatory status
Listed as a GRAS synthetic flavoring substance and adjuvant under 21 CFR 182.60, permitting its use in food for its flavouring/technical effect under good manufacturing practice. Source (2026-07-24)
Authorised as a flavouring substance on the EU Union list under Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008, and separately as a permitted extraction solvent under Directive 2009/32/EC — not, however, listed in Annex II/III to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 as a classical E-number food additive. Source (2026-07-24)
Regulatory status by region
Ethyl acetate carries a legacy E-number (E1504) but is not part of the EU's Annex II/III food-additive Union list under Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 — it is instead authorised through two other EU instruments: as a flavouring substance on the Union list under Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008, and as a permitted extraction solvent under Directive 2009/32/EC (with no maximum residue limit specified for its authorised uses). The FDA, by contrast, folds the same solvent/flavouring function into a single GRAS flavoring-substance listing (21 CFR 182.60) rather than splitting it across separate additive/flavouring/solvent frameworks.
See the FDA detail: the EU authorises ethyl acetate's food uses through the flavourings Union list (Regulation 1334/2008) and the extraction-solvents directive (2009/32/EC) rather than the food-additives regulation, while the US covers the same functional uses under one GRAS flavoring-substance listing (21 CFR 182.60) — a difference in regulatory architecture rather than in whether the substance is permitted.
Found in these products
None of the products in our database currently contain E1504.