E474 - Sucroglycerides
What it is and how it is used
Sucroglycerides are made by reacting sucrose with an edible fat or oil. The reaction produces a mixture: some sucrose esters of the fatty acids, plus the mono- and diglycerides left over from the fat. That mixture is the additive — which is what separates E 474 from its purer relative sucrose esters of fatty acids (E 473), where the glycerides are removed.
Because sucrose is strongly water-loving and the fatty acid tail is not, the resulting molecule sits at an oil–water boundary and holds the two together. Sucroglycerides are non-ionic, tasteless and tolerate a wide pH range, which makes them useful in dairy-style emulsions where charged emulsifiers would interact with the protein.
Foods commonly containing it
Coffee whiteners and non-dairy creamers, powdered drink mixes, some bakery products and cake emulsions, dairy analogues, and coatings on fresh fruit.
Safety summary
Sucroglycerides are authorised in Great Britain as E 474, within the group “E 473–474: Sucrose esters of fatty acids, Sucroglycerides”.
The group carries an acceptable daily intake of 40 mg per kg of body weight per day, shared with E 473. That figure is worth reading alongside EFSA's 2023 opinion on sucrose esters, which found that when updated use levels were taken into account, estimated exposure exceeded the group ADI for many population groups — a flag on the group as a whole rather than on this additive individually.
Known concerns
EFSA's 2023 assessment reported estimated exposure to the E 473/E 474 group exceeding the 40 mg/kg bw/day group ADI in many population groups on updated use levels. That is an exposure finding, not a hazard finding, but it is the live regulatory question for this group.