Ammonium chloride

Ammonium chloride is an inorganic salt with a salty, slightly acidic taste. In food it serves multiple roles: as a yeast nutrient providing nitrogen for fermentation in brewing and bread-making; as a dough conditioner improving gluten development; and as a flavouring agent providing the distinctive salty-bitter taste of traditional Scandinavian salmiak (salty liquorice). It is also used in certain Asian culinary traditions.

JECFA's ADI is "not specified," evaluated in 1975. Ammonium chloride dissociates to ammonium and chloride ions in solution. Ammonium is incorporated into normal nitrogen metabolism and excreted as urea; chloride is a normal electrolyte. No adverse effects have been identified at dietary exposure levels. Very high doses of ammonium salts can cause metabolic acidosis, but this is not relevant at food additive concentrations.

Ammonium chloride is approved in the EU, US (GRAS), UK, and globally. It is most notably associated with salmiak confectionery popular in the Netherlands, Finland, and Nordic countries. Salmiak products can contain ammonium chloride at levels high enough to have a noticeable physiological taste effect, but at commercially typical concentrations there are no health concerns for healthy adults.