Food & Drink / Compounds / Sucrose

Sucrose in food: ingestion safety

Context-dependent

Safety profile for Sucrose relevant to people.

What is sucrose?

Also known as: saccharose, sugar, Table sugar, Cane sugar.

CAS number
57-50-1
Molecular formula
C12H22O11
Molecular weight
342.30 g/mol
SMILES
C(C1C(C(C(C(O1)OC2(C(C(C(O2)CO)O)O)CO)O)O)O)O
PubChem CID
5988

Risk for people

Context-dependent

Regulatory consensus

1 regulatory bodyhas classified Sucrose.

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 sucrose

  • Food — sweetener, preservative, baking, beverages

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Sucrose:

  • Natural alternatives; 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 sucrose?

Sucrose appears in: sweetener (Food); preservative (Food).

See Sucrose in the food app

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

Open in food View raw API data

Sources (1)
  1. PubChem (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 →