Glutamic acid (E620): what it is and what regulators say

Names on a label

E620
E 620
Glutamic acid

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

What regulators and scientists say

EFSA set an acceptable daily intake of 30 mg per kilogram of body weight per day (June 21, 2017). For a 70 kg (154 lb) adult, that’s about 2.1 g a day.¹
The FDA lists it as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for its intended use in food (21 CFR 182.1045).²

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.”³

Sources

EFSA. Re-evaluation of glutamic acid (E 620), sodium glutamate (E 621), potassium glutamate (E 622), calcium glutamate (E 623), ammonium glutamate (E 624) and magnesium glutamate (E 625) as food additives, 2017.
US Food and Drug Administration. Substances Added to Food inventory.
European Food Safety Authority. Glossary: acceptable daily intake.

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