Is Sodium Citrates (E331) Vegan?

Also known as: Monosodium citrate (E331i), Disodium citrate (E331ii), Trisodium citrate (E331iii), Sour salt, Citric acid sodium salt

Vegan

Sodium citrates are vegan. Producers neutralize fermentation-derived citric acid with a sodium base, and the fermentation runs on plant sugars fed to a mold. No animal input appears anywhere in the route.

Last checked How we decide

Ingredient Data

Vegan Status

Vegan

E-Number

E331

Also Known As

Monosodium citrate (E331i); Disodium citrate (E331ii); Trisodium citrate (E331iii); Sour salt; Citric acid sodium salt

Source

Made by neutralizing citric acid with sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide. Commercial citric acid comes from feeding sugar, usually glucose syrup from corn or molasses, to the mold Aspergillus niger, which excretes the acid into the fermentation broth. The broth is filtered and the acid recovered, then converted to the sodium salt.

Commonly Found In

Processed cheese and vegan cheese slices, plant milks, ice cream, soft drinks, energy drinks, jams and jellies, gelatin-free desserts, canned foods. Also used in blood collection bags and effervescent medicines.

Vegan Alternative

No substitute needed. E331 is vegan.

Additional Notes

Trisodium citrate is the form most people meet, sold to home cooks as the ingredient that makes smooth cheese sauce without flour. It works by pulling calcium away from proteins, letting them disperse in water instead of clumping. Vegan cheese producers use it for the same reason on plant proteins and starches.

In depth

Mold Fermentation, Not Citrus Fruit

Citric acid takes its name from lemons, and early production did squeeze the acid out of Italian citrus. Industry abandoned that route in the 1920s. The mold Aspergillus niger had turned out to produce citric acid in far greater yield when fed sugar. Modern plants run submerged fermentations on glucose syrup from corn or wheat starch, or on beet molasses. The mold acidifies the broth, and the biomass is filtered off.

Recovery follows by precipitation with lime and treatment with sulfuric acid, or by solvent extraction. Neutralizing that acid with sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide gives the three sodium citrates. Every input is plant or mineral: sugar, a fungal culture, limestone, and a mineral base. Some people avoid citric acid because of corn or mold sensitivity, and that is a separate question from the vegan one. On sourcing, sodium citrate is clean.

The Cheese Sauce Trick

Sodium citrate's usefulness comes from chelation. Calcium ions cross-link casein micelles in dairy cheese, and pulling those ions away lets the protein disperse smoothly in water. Melt cheese with a little water and sodium citrate and you get a glossy sauce that does not split or go grainy. Industrial processed cheese has used this for a century, which is why E331 appears on nearly every packet of cheese slices.

Home cooks have picked it up more recently. Plant-based cheese uses the same additive for a related job: keeping proteins, starches, and oils in a stable emulsion through melting and cooling. Seeing E331 on a vegan cheese label is expected. The additive is not a dairy marker and says nothing about whether the product contains milk.

Acidity, Buffering, and the Rest of the Range

Beyond emulsifying, sodium citrate buffers pH. In soft drinks and energy drinks it holds the acidity steady. In jams it controls set. In canned foods it stops discoloration by tying up trace metals. Effervescent tablets pair it with bicarbonate for the fizz. Medicine uses it as an anticoagulant in blood collection bags, since binding calcium stops clotting. That is a laboratory use and does not affect the food additive's sourcing. Neighboring numbers follow the same pattern: E330 is citric acid itself, E332 the potassium citrates, E333 the calcium citrates. All four come out of the same fermentation and are vegan.

Frequently asked questions

Is E331 vegan?

Yes. Sodium citrates are made by neutralizing citric acid with a sodium base, and commercial citric acid comes from feeding plant sugars to a mold culture. Nothing animal-derived is used.

Does sodium citrate come from lemons?

Not in commercial practice. Citrus extraction ended in the 1920s, replaced by fermentation with Aspergillus niger fed on glucose syrup or molasses. The molecule is identical either way.

Why is E331 in vegan cheese?

Sodium citrate binds calcium and keeps proteins, starches, and oils in a stable emulsion, so the product melts smoothly and holds together. Dairy processed cheese uses it for the same reason, and its presence says nothing about whether a product contains milk.

Is sodium citrate the same as MSG?

No. Sodium citrate is a salt of citric acid used to buffer acidity and emulsify, while monosodium glutamate (E621) is a salt of glutamic acid used as a flavor enhancer. Both are vegan, but they do different jobs and taste different.

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