E1519 — Benzyl alcohol
Why it’s used
An aromatic alcohol found naturally in trace amounts in fruits like apricots and cranberries and in some essential oils, but produced industrially for food use as a flavouring solvent and preservative-adjacent ingredient. It's added mainly to liqueurs, aromatised wine-based drinks, and some confectionery and bakery products for its mild, sweet, fruity note.
Other names
Phenylmethanol, Phenylcarbinol, Benzenemethanol
Diet flags
Regulatory status
Listed as a synthetic flavoring substance and adjuvant permitted for direct addition to food under 21 CFR 172.515. Source (2026-07-24)
Authorised under Annex II/III to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 with category-specific caps: up to 100 mg/L in liqueurs and aromatised wine-based drinks, and up to 250 mg/kg in confectionery, chocolate, and fine bakery wares; EFSA's re-evaluation set an ADI of 4 mg/kg body weight/day. Source (2026-07-24)
Regulatory status by region
FDA lists benzyl alcohol under 21 CFR 172.515 as a synthetic flavoring substance and adjuvant, a category-wide listing that carries no per-food numeric usage ceiling; use is governed only by current good manufacturing practice, consistent with the self-limiting-by-taste approach the US applies to flavoring substances generally rather than a quantitative risk assessment translated into category caps. Source: eCFR 21 CFR 172.515, verified 2026-07-24.
EFSA's 2019 re-evaluation of benzyl alcohol (E1519) derived a formal Acceptable Daily Intake of 4 mg/kg body weight/day from the NOAEL of a rat carcinogenicity study, and the EU's Annex II sets specific per-category maximum levels (e.g., 100 mg/L in liqueurs and aromatised wine-based drinks, 250 mg/kg in confectionery, chocolate, and fine bakery wares) calibrated to keep exposure under that ADI — a structural feature of the EU's quantitative, list-based additive system that the US flavoring-substance framework doesn't use. Source: EFSA Journal 2019;17(9):5876, verified 2026-07-24.
Found in these products
None of the products in our database currently contain E1519.