Acetic acid derives its vegan and vegetarian status from carbon monoxide, methanol, ethylene.
| Vegan? Yes | Vegetarian? Yes |
Classifications are made based on the available commercial supply of the ingredient, and are made based on the criteria on our classifications page.
Commercially available acetic acid is vegan and vegetarian.
Acetic acid is the acid which gives vinegar its sour taste. It is a common preservative and flavoring agent and it along with its derivatives are used in cosmetics as fragrances, solvents, and as a skin conditioning agent. It is commercially produced from the catalytic carbonylation (addition of carbon monoxide) of methanol over rhodium or irridium or by the oxidation of ethylene.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetic_acid
- https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Acetic-Acid#section=Methods-of-Manufacturing
- Heldreth, B., Bergfeld, W. F., Belsito, D. V., Hill, R. A., Klaassen, C. D., Liebler, D., Marks, J. G., Shank, R. C., Slaga, T. J., Snyder, P. W., & Andersen, F. A. (2012). Final Report of the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel on the Safety Assessment of Methyl Acetate. International Journal of Toxicology, 31(4_suppl).
https://doi.org/10.1177/1091581812444142 - https://www.vrg.org/ingredients/#acetic_acid