What is it?
An emulsifier and cleansing agent made by joining sucrose (table sugar) with lauric acid, a fatty acid abundant in coconut oil. It is mostly the monoester, with one lauric acid chain per sugar molecule. It helps oil and water mix and conditions skin, and it is used in skin care, cleansers, eye-area products and some hair sprays. Sucrose esters of fatty acids are also used as food emulsifiers and in some medicines.
Key information
- The CIR Expert Panel concluded that sucrose laurate and 39 other saccharide esters are safe in cosmetics in the present practices of use and concentration.
- Sucrose fatty acid esters are permitted as direct food additives by the FDA and as food additive E 473 in the European Union.
- It can help other ingredients pass through the skin, so the CIR advises care when combining it with ingredients whose safety depends on low absorption.
More information
Sucrose fatty acid esters for food use are made by reacting sucrose with the methyl or ethyl esters of edible fatty acids, or with vegetable oils, using food-grade solvents. Sucrose laurate is a mixture of sucrose esters of lauric acid, mostly the monoester. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) reported 42 uses, mostly leave-on, at up to 3 percent, including pump hair sprays at up to 1.2 percent. The FDA also lists it as an inactive ingredient in an approved oral medicine.
The CIR Expert Panel reviewed sucrose laurate with 39 other saccharide esters and concluded they are safe as used, with no added conditions. In animal tests, sucrose laurate did not irritate mouse or guinea pig skin, gels with 5 and 15 percent showed some irritation potential in rabbits, and a 10 percent solution was slightly irritating to rabbit eyes. Across the group, studies in people found the esters non-sensitizing and generally non-irritating, with occasional slight to mild irritation. The Panel noted that sucrose laurate is an effective penetration enhancer, studied as a way to help drugs through the skin, and cautioned formulators about combining it with ingredients whose safety depends on low absorption.
In food, U.S. rules permit sucrose fatty acid esters as emulsifiers, stabilizers and texturizers in foods such as baked goods, chewing gum and frozen dairy desserts, and as coatings on fresh fruit. In the European Union they are food additive E 473, with an acceptable daily intake of 40 mg per kilogram of body weight. In 2023 EFSA estimated that intake of E 473 from food can exceed that level for some groups, especially children; that finding concerns total diet, not use on skin.
Sources: Cosmetic Ingredient Review: Safety assessment of saccharide esters (tentative report, 2016); International Journal of Toxicology (2021): Safety assessment of saccharide esters as used in cosmetics (abstract, OUCI); Legal Information Institute: 21 CFR 172.859, Sucrose fatty acid esters; EFSA Journal (2023): Re-evaluation of sucrose esters of fatty acids (E 473)
