Are cysteamine or cysteamine chloride approved food additives in the EU? Are they present in any food today?

franki Lau, Hong Kong

Cysteamine is the biogenous amin of the nonessential amino acid cysteine. Which means the body can built this amino acid. (Amino acids are the building blocks of a protein.). Cysteamine is part of the human enzyme “coenzyme A”, which has many functions in the human metabolism.

Cysteamine chloride is used in cosmetics as an antioxidant and reducing agent. It is also used to treat people with a rare disorder called cystinose. Cysteamine or cysteamine chloride are neither approved in the EU nor are they listed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. This means that they have not been reviewed for their nutritional value or even their toxicity. Consequently, they are not added in foods produced within the EU.

List of all e-numbers:
http://apps3.fao.org/jecfa/additive_specs/foodad-q.jsp?language=en