Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate (SAIB)

A modified sugar ester used as a weighting agent to bring flavor oil emulsions to the same density as water, stabilizing cloud and color in citrus-flavored carbonated and still beverages.

Clear, viscous, pale yellow liquid with a density of approximately 1.146 g/cm3. Insoluble in water but readily blended with citrus oils, ester gum, and glycerol esters of rosin to produce stable beverage emulsions and clouding agents.

We supply food-grade Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate from manufacturers in China holding ISO, Halal, Kosher and other certifications relevant to the product and production.

Common market grades include standard food-grade SAIB for direct beverage use, low-color SAIB for premium clear citrus drinks, and BVO-replacement grade specifically positioned for reformulation of legacy brominated-vegetable-oil products in line with the post-2023 U.S. FDA prohibition.

Bulk and reduced-MOQ shipments. Batch-level COA covering assay, color, refractive index, acid value, and heavy metals.

Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate is produced by selective esterification of sucrose with acetic and isobutyric anhydrides, yielding a mixed octa-ester in which on average six of the eight available hydroxyl groups carry isobutyrate substituents and two carry acetate. The result is a heavy, oily, food-safe ester that occupies a niche shared by very few alternatives.

The functional purpose in beverages is density matching. Pure citrus oils float at densities near 0.85 g/cm3, well below water; when emulsified into a soft drink they migrate upward over time, forming a visible ring at the meniscus and depleting flavor at the bottom of the bottle. Adding SAIB to the oil phase brings emulsion droplet density close to water and arrests this migration.

Regulated as E444 in the EU at up to 300 mg/L in non-alcoholic flavored beverages, classified as Generally Recognized as Safe by the U.S. FDA under 21 CFR 172.833 at up to 300 mg/L, and approved by JECFA with an Acceptable Daily Intake of 20 mg per kg body weight.

SAIB has gained renewed industrial focus following the July 2024 effective date of the U.S. FDA rule revoking approval for brominated vegetable oil (BVO), the older weighting agent it largely replaces. Reformulating from BVO to SAIB typically requires no other recipe change beyond direct one-for-one substitution at equal mass.

• Citrus-flavored carbonated soft drinks where orange or lemon oil emulsions need density matching
• Cloudy still beverages, juice drinks, and sports drinks requiring uniform turbidity
• Flavor oil delivery systems and beverage flavor emulsions for industrial syrup houses
• Cloud agent for non-juice cordials, squashes, and concentrated drink bases
• Direct one-for-one replacement of brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in legacy formulations
• Spray-dried flavor and color premixes that need oil-phase density adjustment
• Some confectionery and pharmaceutical applications requiring controlled-release lipid carriers