Ingredient · Ingredient
Cera camaua
Carnauba wax (E903) is a plant-derived glazing agent that's safe in the tiny amounts used on food.
Cera camaúba is an Italian name for carnauba wax, a hard wax from the leaves of the Brazilian carnauba palm. It's used as a thin, shiny coating on candies, fruit, and pills, and passes through the digestive system largely unchanged. Regulators consider it safe at normal food-use levels.
Why it matters
Carnauba wax is a natural wax scraped from carnauba palm leaves, melted, and purified. Food makers use it as a glazing agent: a very thin coating that makes candies, chocolates, and some fresh fruit look shiny and stops them sticking together or losing moisture. It's also used to coat pills and dietary supplements. The body can't digest wax, so it passes through the gut largely unchanged, similar to dietary fibre. Almost nobody needs to worry about it in normal use.
Sources (3)
- 1.Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives, Annex II
- 2.EFSA re-evaluation of waxes (carnauba wax, E903) as food additives
- 3.US FDA - Carnauba Wax, GRAS status (21 CFR 184.1978)
