Is pectine e440ii vegan?

"Pectine e440ii" is a food label term using the French and Dutch word for pectin alongside the European additive code E440(ii), which refers to amidated pectin. It is a modified form of natural pectin used in food processing as a gelling agent, stabilizer, and thickener. This additive is primarily extracted from plant material, most commonly the leftover peels of citrus fruits like oranges and lemons, as well as apple pomace.

Manufacturers produce amidated pectin by treating extracted fruit pectin with ammonia under controlled alkaline conditions. This chemical treatment converts some of the galacturonic acid units into amide groups, which enables the pectin to set into a gel at lower sugar concentrations than standard pectin requires. It frequently appears in reduced-sugar jams, fruit spreads, marmalades, bakery fillings, glazes, and plant-based dairy alternatives.

This ingredient is vegan because its source is entirely botanical and the chemical modification process relies on non-animal reagents. Ammonia and the other processing aids used during production are synthetic or mineral in origin. Because no animal tissues, byproducts, or animal-derived processing aids are involved at any stage of manufacturing, amidated pectin is completely free of animal sources.