Is Ammonium Carbonates (E503) Vegan?

Also known as: Ammonium carbonate (E503i), Ammonium hydrogen carbonate (E503ii), Baker's ammonia, Hartshorn, Hirschhornsalz

Vegan

Ammonium carbonates are vegan. Producers make them from ammonia and carbon dioxide, with the ammonia synthesized from atmospheric nitrogen. The old name hartshorn points to a deer antler route that industry abandoned long ago.

Last checked How we decide

Ingredient Data

Vegan Status

Vegan

E-Number

E503

Also Known As

Ammonium carbonate (E503i); Ammonium hydrogen carbonate (E503ii); Baker's ammonia; Hartshorn; Hirschhornsalz

Source

Made from ammonia and carbon dioxide. Industrial ammonia comes from the Haber-Bosch reaction, which combines nitrogen pulled from the air with hydrogen from natural gas. Passing ammonia and carbon dioxide into water gives ammonium carbonate or the hydrogen carbonate, which is crystallized and dried.

Commonly Found In

Thin crisp cookies including speculoos, lebkuchen, amaretti, and Scandinavian Christmas biscuits, crackers, some flat baked goods, and traditional confectionery. Rarely used in soft or thick baked items.

Vegan Alternative

No substitute needed. E503 is vegan.

Additional Notes

The old name hartshorn records a route that has been obsolete for well over a century: ammonia was once distilled from deer antlers and other animal material. Modern production takes nitrogen out of the air. The additive decomposes completely into ammonia, carbon dioxide, and water during baking, so nothing remains in the finished biscuit if it bakes thin enough for the gas to escape.

In depth

Hartshorn Was Real, and It Is Gone

Salt of hartshorn earned its name honestly. Distilling the antlers of red deer, along with horn, hooves, and other animal material, yielded a crude ammonium carbonate that European bakers used for centuries as a leavening agent. German recipes still call the ingredient Hirschhornsalz, deer horn salt. That route disappeared with the rise of industrial nitrogen chemistry.

Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch developed the process that fixes atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia in the years before the First World War, and it has supplied the world's ammonia since. Hydrogen for the reaction comes from natural gas. Modern E503 is ammonia from the air combined with carbon dioxide. A traditional recipe printed with the word hartshorn is calling for a product that is now made without any animal input, and bakers who buy it under that name get the mineral version.

Why It Only Works in Thin Biscuits

Baking soda and baking powder leave a residue: sodium salts that stay in the crumb and can taste soapy at high doses. Ammonium carbonate leaves nothing, decomposing completely into ammonia gas, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. The catch is the ammonia. In a thin, dry biscuit the gas escapes during baking and nothing remains.

In a cake or a thick soft cookie, moisture traps the ammonia in the crumb, and the result smells and tastes sharply of it. That constraint explains where the additive survives. Speculoos, gingerbread and lebkuchen, amaretti, crackers, and Scandinavian Christmas biscuits all bake thin and dry, and all get exceptional crispness from it. Home bakers report a strong ammonia smell in the oven, which fades as the biscuits cool.

Reading It on a Label

EU ingredient lists show E503, ammonium carbonate, or ammonium hydrogen carbonate, usually under the heading raising agent. Baking supply shops sell it as baker's ammonia, hartshorn, or ammonium bicarbonate. None of those names indicates an animal source today, and a shopper does not need to distinguish them. The sodium equivalents sit under E500 and the potassium ones under E501, and all three groups are vegan. One related additive is worth separating. Ammonium chloride, E510, is the salty compound in Nordic salmiakki licorice, and it is also mineral. Where a licorice sweet is not vegan, gelatin or beeswax glaze will be the reason.

Frequently asked questions

Is E503 vegan?

Yes. Ammonium carbonates are made from ammonia synthesized from atmospheric nitrogen and from carbon dioxide. No animal-derived material is used in modern production.

Is baker's ammonia made from deer antlers?

Not any more. The name hartshorn records a historical route that distilled ammonia from antlers and other animal material, replaced by the Haber-Bosch process over a century ago. Today's product comes from air and natural gas.

Why does my kitchen smell of ammonia when baking with it?

The additive decomposes into ammonia gas, carbon dioxide, and water in the oven. In thin dry biscuits the ammonia escapes fully and leaves no trace, which is why the smell fades as the biscuits cool.

Can I use baking powder instead of E503?

You can, and the texture changes. Ammonium carbonate leaves no residue and produces an exceptionally crisp, dry biscuit, while baking powder leaves sodium salts and gives a softer, slightly more cake-like result.

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