Food & Drink / Compounds / Sodium citrate

Sodium citrate in food: ingestion safety

Context-dependent

Safety profile for Sodium citrate relevant to people.

What is sodium citrate?

Also known as: TRISODIUM CITRATE, Citrosodine, Natrocitral, Citric acid, trisodium salt.

CAS number
68-04-2
Molecular formula
C6H5Na3O7
Molecular weight
258.07 g/mol
SMILES
C(C(=O)[O-])C(CC(=O)[O-])(C(=O)[O-])O.[Na+].[Na+].[Na+]
PubChem CID
6224

Risk for people

Context-dependent

Regulatory consensus

1 regulatory bodyhas classified Sodium citrate.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
Regulatory Framework—Regulated under food safety frameworks (FDA GRAS, EU food additive regulations)

Regulators apply different standards of evidence — animal-data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds — which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. The disagreement is the data.

Where you encounter sodium citrate

  • Food — beverages, processed food, dairy
  • Personal Care — shampoo, cosmetics
  • Consumer Products — detergent

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Sodium citrate:

  • Natural preservatives; Clean-label ingredients; Minimally processed food
    Trade-offs: Consumer label appeal ('clean label'); variable efficacy depending on food matrix and target pathogen; may alter flavor/color; regulatory status varies by jurisdiction; often more expensive per unit of preservation effect.
    Relative cost: 2-5× conventional

Frequently asked questions

What products contain sodium citrate?

Sodium citrate appears in: beverages (Food); processed food (Food); shampoo (Personal care); cosmetics (Personal care); detergent (Consumer products).

See Sodium citrate in the food app

Look up products containing sodium citrate, compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in food View raw API data

Sources (1)
  1. PubChem Compound Database (2026) — database

Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific data; not a substitute for veterinary, medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Why we built ALETHEIA →