Calcium inosinate

Calcium inosinate is the calcium salt of inosinic acid, providing umami flavour enhancement without contributing sodium or potassium to the formulation. It is used in flavoured snacks, seasonings, and processed food products as part of savoury flavour systems, typically in combination with glutamate-based enhancers. Its calcium-based cation makes it of interest in mineral-controlled or low-sodium reformulations, while its flavour function is identical to that of the more common disodium and dipotassium inosinate variants.

JECFA classified calcium inosinate with the broader inosinate group in 1987, assigning a "not specified" ADI consistent with the normal metabolic role of inosine monophosphate and the nutritional essentiality of calcium. No safety threshold is considered necessary at levels used in food.

Calcium inosinate is approved in the EU as E633 for use as a flavour enhancer. The consumer advisory applicable to all inosinate and guanylate additives applies here: these are purine-containing compounds whose breakdown product is uric acid. Individuals with gout, urate nephropathy, or purine metabolic disorders should account for E633 and related nucleotide enhancers when managing dietary purine intake. In most everyday food products, the quantities involved are small, and gout management guidance typically focuses on the much larger purine contributions from organ meats and shellfish rather than from additive sources — but combined intake from multiple enhanced products can add up.