Revely

Additive

Borax (E285)

E285 is in the E200s, the range used for preservatives. Here’s what it goes by on a label, and what regulators and scientists have said about it.

Sources checked September 26, 2026

Names on a label

Labels outside Europe often print the number on its own, without the E.

What regulators and scientists say

An acceptable daily intake is, in EFSA’s words, “an estimate of the amount of a substance in food or drinking water that can be consumed daily over a lifetime without presenting an appreciable risk to health.”2

Sources

  1. EFSA. Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluation of boric acid (E 284) and sodium tetraborate (borax) (E 285) as food additives., 2013.
  2. European Food Safety Authority. Glossary: acceptable daily intake.

Records as held by Revely on September 26, 2026. Each links to its source.