E323 - Anoxomer
What it is and how it is used
Anoxomer is an unusual antioxidant, and the idea behind it is elegant: rather than a small molecule that can be absorbed from the gut, it is a large polymer with antioxidant groups attached to the backbone. It works at the surface of a fat, then passes straight through the digestive tract without being absorbed.
Non-absorption was the selling point — an antioxidant that cannot reach the bloodstream cannot have systemic effects. It was developed as an alternative to BHA and BHT in frying fats. It has never been authorised in the European system, and it is not on the Great Britain list.
Foods commonly containing it
None in Great Britain. Anoxomer has been permitted in some other jurisdictions for use in fats and oils.
Safety summary
Anoxomer (E 323) does not appear in the FSA Register of Food Additive Authorisations, the official list of additives authorised for the market in Great Britain, and it is not on the DHSC/FSA list of approved additives and E numbers. On the current GB list it is not an authorised food additive.
No GB or EFSA acceptable daily intake exists for it. We are not quoting a figure from another jurisdiction as though it applied here.
The antioxidants used in UK frying fats and processed foods are the ones on the GB list — chiefly the tocopherols (E 306–E 309), ascorbates (E 300–E 302), rosemary extracts (E 392), and the synthetic phenolics BHA (E 320), BHT (E 321) and TBHQ (E 319).