| 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 citric acid is vegan and vegetarian.
Citric acid is a naturally occuring acid in citrus fruits. It is used as an acidulant and pH adjuster in beverages and food products and also as a chelating agent, pH adjuster, or fragrance ingredient in cosmetics. Traditionally citric acid was produced by extracting it from unripe citrus fruits, however since the 1930s it is now industrially produced by fermenting sugar solutions.
Sources
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/244450838_The_Merck_Index_An_Encyclopedia_of_Chemicals_Drugs_and_Biologicals_Edited_by_Maryadele_J_O%27Neil_Patricia_E_Heckelman_Cherie_B_Koch_and_Kristin_J_Roman_Merck_John_Wiley_Sons_Inc_Hoboken_NJ_2006_xiv_256
- https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Citric-Acid#section=Use-Classification
- Verhoff, F. H., & Bauweleers, H. (2014). Citric Acid. Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 1–11.
https://doi.org/10.1002/14356007.a07_103.pub3 - https://www.veganpeace.com/ingredients/ingredients.htm