"You are amazing, this has saved me so much time when grocery shopping!"
— Austin, a user who reached out with feedback
"It's been a great tool since starting my journey! You take a pic of the nutrition/ingredients, and it'll warn you of anything questionable or not vegan. 😁"
— Ashe, a Vegan For Beginners Facebook Group member
"Use a vegan app when you go shopping, I use WhatsVegan."
— Dóra, a Vegan For Beginners Facebook Group member
Learn more
"You are amazing, this has saved me so much time when grocery shopping!"
— Austin, a user who reached out with feedback
"It's been a great tool since starting my journey! You take a pic of the nutrition/ingredients, and it'll warn you of anything questionable or not vegan. 😁"
— Ashe, a Vegan For Beginners Facebook Group member
"Use a vegan app when you go shopping, I use WhatsVegan."
— Dóra, a Vegan For Beginners Facebook Group member
So, what is citrate de sodium e331?
Citrate de sodium e331 is the French name for sodium citrate, an authorized food additive identified by the European code E331 that refers to the sodium salts of citric acid. It functions primarily as an acidity regulator, emulsifier, and preservative in a wide variety of commercial food products. Common applications include carbonated soft drinks, jams, plant-based dairy alternatives, gelatin-free candies, and packaged baked goods.
This additive is produced industrially by neutralizing citric acid with an inorganic sodium base, typically sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate. The precursor citric acid is commercially manufactured through the microbial fermentation of plant-derived carbohydrate sugars, such as corn syrup or molasses, using strains of the mold Aspergillus niger. Because the production process relies strictly on plant carbohydrates, mineral bases, and fungal fermentation, no animal-derived substances are used at any stage. Therefore, citrate de sodium e331 is vegan.
We've built a vegan ingredients scanner that classifies food ingredients as "vegan", "non-vegan", or "potentially vegan".
It allows you to avoid non-vegan ingredients - just take a picture of a product's ingredient list, and the app tells you if the product is vegan or not.