What is it?
A soluble fiber found in the cell walls of fruit and vegetables. Commercial pectin is extracted with hot dilute acid, mainly from citrus peel or apple pomace, the pulp left after pressing apples. It is the gelling agent that sets jams, jellies and many gummies, and it thickens and stabilizes other foods, where it is listed as E 440. In cosmetics it is used as a binder, emulsion stabilizer and thickener.
Key information
- EFSA concluded in 2017 that pectin (E 440i) and amidated pectin (E 440ii) raise no safety concern as food additives and need no numerical acceptable daily intake.
- FDA affirms pectins as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for food, with no limit other than good manufacturing practice.
- The CIR Expert Panel concluded in 2015 that pectin is safe as used in cosmetics.
- Citrus pectin is pectin extracted from citrus peel, one of the two main commercial sources along with apple pomace.
More information
Chemically, pectin is a chain of galacturonic acid units, partly in the form of methyl esters. Amidated pectin (E 440ii) is a modified form made by an amidation process. Pectin is not absorbed intact; it passes to the large intestine, where gut bacteria ferment it extensively.
In its 2017 re-evaluation, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) found no indication that pectin damages genes, although the data were limited, no adverse effects in rats fed up to 5,000 mg per kilogram of body weight a day in a chronic study, and no adverse effects in people who took 36 grams a day for six weeks. It did not consider pectin to have allergenic potential. Exposure from its use as a food additive reached up to 442 mg/kg a day for toddlers in EFSA’s highest-exposure scenario. EFSA concluded there is no safety concern for the general population and no need for a numerical acceptable daily intake. It did recommend lowering the limits for arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium allowed in the EU purity specifications. In the United States, FDA affirms pectins as GRAS for use in food with no limit other than good manufacturing practice.
In cosmetics, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel reviewed pectin with more than 100 other polysaccharides and concluded in 2015 that it is safe in the present practices of use and concentration. Pectin was reported in 87 products, at up to 9 percent in products that may be swallowed in small amounts.
On labels, look for pectin, citrus pectin, apple pectin, amidated pectin or E 440.
Sources: EFSA Journal (2017), via PMC: Re-evaluation of pectin (E 440i) and amidated pectin (E 440ii) as food additives; CIR: Safety Assessment of Polysaccharide Gums as Used in Cosmetics (final report, 2015); eCFR: 21 CFR 184.1588, Pectins
