Open Food Labels. Search 867 ingredients⌘K

E461Emulsifier · Stabiliser · Thickener

Methyl cellulose

What the research shows

Concerning

in animal and lab studies only

A compound derived from cellulose that is added to food products.

It is used as a thickener and emulsifier in various food products.12

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
  • EU permitted

What research says

Studies in people

  • Benefit

    Blood sugar after meals3

    Methylcellulose eaten with breakfast lowered insulin levels in overweight adults, though it did not clearly lower blood sugar.

  • Open question

    Gut and bowel effects4

    People who ate methyl cellulose for 23 days had bulkier stools, and no allergic or other bad effects were reported.

Animal and lab studies only

  • Concern

    Gut and tissue effects5

    Methyl cellulose caused no tissue changes in rats, though very high amounts slowed their growth.

  • Benefit

    Edible coating during frying7

    Coating fried dough cakes with methyl cellulose before frying cut the oil and harmful chemicals like acrylamide.

How it’s made and used

  • Fat digestion6

    In lab studies, methylcellulose added to emulsions slowed how much fat broke down during digestion.

  • Oil absorbed by fried food8

    A methylcellulose coating on fried potato chips cut the oil they soaked up by about a third.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.

What expert reviews concluded

Expert panels that weigh all the research. Shown for context: the signal at the top does not count them.

Regulatory status

Checked Sep 2026

Status reflects the named register on the date checked. It is not a safety rating.

How we check

Products

The 6 most-scanned of 2,217 products on Open Food Facts that list methyl cellulose.

  • MEAT-FREE TASTY SAUSAGES RICHMOND · 304 g 3 additives
  • Beyond Burger Beyond Meat · 226 g 3 additives
  • 6 sausages vegan Linda McCartney · 270 g 4 additives
  • Lincolnshire sausages Cauldron · 276 g 4 additives
  • This isn't pork sausages This · 270 g 6 additives
  • mozzarella 1/4lb burgers Linda McCartney · 227 g, 2 burgers 1 additive

References

  1. 1methyl cellulose: ingredient taxonomy entry. Open Food Facts.
  2. 2Methyl cellulose. Wikipedia. Accessed September 26, 2026. CC BY-SA 4.0.
  3. 3Maki KC, Carson ML, Miller MP, et al. Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose and methylcellulose consumption reduce postprandial insulinemia in overweight and obese men and women. J Nutr. 2008;138(2):292-6. doi:10.1093/jn/138.2.292
  4. 4Eastwood MA, Brydon WG, Anderson DM. The effects of dietary methylcellulose in man. Food Addit Contam. 1990;7(1):9-19. doi:10.1080/02652039009373814
  5. 5Younes M, Aggett P, Aguilar F, et al. Re-evaluation of celluloses E 460(i), E 460(ii), E 461, E 462, E 463, E 464, E 465, E 466, E 468 and E 469 as food additives. EFSA J. 2018;16(1):e05047. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5047
  6. 6Zhang L, Halket J, Caldwell A, Vllasaliu D, Bajka B, Dreiss CA. Controlling in vitro lipid digestion: Pickering emulsions with cellulose nanocrystals, chitosan and methylcellulose. Food Res Int. 2025;218:116793. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2025.116793
  7. 7Han L, He YE, Wang S, et al. Effects of Methyl Cellulose and Soybean Protein Isolate Coating on Amount of Oil and Chemical Hazards in Chinese Fried Dough Cake. J Food Prot. 2021;84(8):1333-1339. doi:10.4315/JFP-21-062
  8. 8Tavera-Quiroz MJ, Urriza M, Pinotti A, Bertola N. Plasticized methylcellulose coating for reducing oil uptake in potato chips. J Sci Food Agric. 2012;92(7):1346-53. doi:10.1002/jsfa.4704