Citral
What Is It?
Citral is a component of lemongrass oil and the oils of verbena, lemon myrtle, lemon and orange. In cosmetics and personal care products, Citral is used in the formulation of many types of products including aftershave lotions, bath products, moisturizers, perfumes and colognes, skin care products and suntan products.
Why Is It Used?
Citral functions as a fragrance ingredientSubstances that impart an odor to a product. and a flavoring agentIngredients that impart a flavor or a taste to a product..
Scientific Facts
Citral, also called lemarome, is a naturally occurring lemon-scented component of the oil of a number of plants including lemongrass, lemon myrtle, lemon and orange trees. It can also be produced synthetically.
Safety Information
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) includes Citral in its list of substances considered Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS“GRAS” is an acronym for the phrase Generally Recognized As Safe. Under sections 201(s) and 409 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act), any substance that is intentionally added to food is a food additive, that is subject to premarket review and approval by FDA, unless the substance is generally recognized, among qualified experts, as having been adequately shown to be safe under the conditions of its intended use, or unless the use of the substance is otherwise excluded from the definition of a food additive.) as a synthetic flavoring substance. The safety of Citral has been evaluated by the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials Expert Panel (REXPAN). Based on this evaluation, an International Fragrance Association (IFRA) Standard has been established. The IFRA Standard restricts the use of Citral in fragrances because of potential sensitization.
Link to the IFRA Standards: http://www.ifraorg.org/en-us/standards_1
The Cosmetic Ingredient ReviewThe Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) was established in 1976 as an independent safety review program for cosmetic ingredients. The CIR Expert Panel consists of independent experts in dermatology, toxicology, pharmacolgy and veterinary medicine. The CIR includes participation by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the Consumer Federation of America. (CIR) defers review of individual fragrance ingredients to the IFRA program unless the ingredient has significant uses other than as a fragrance. In this case, the ingredient may be assessed by both the CIR Expert Panel and REXPAN.
Link to FDA Code of Federal Regulations for Citral: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr…
The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) established an Acceptable Daily Intake of up to 0.5 mg/kg body weight Citral when used as a flavoring agent.
Link to the JECFA safety evaluation of Citral: http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jeceval/jec_432.htm
The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association Expert Panel has reviewed the safety of Citral and determined that it is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) for use as a flavoring substance. In Europe, Citral is included on the list of “allergenic” substances. The European Cosmetics Regulation requires manufacturers of cosmetics and personal care products to indicate the presence of certain “allergenic” substances in the list of ingredients if they are present above certain levels in the product (see Annex III). The presence of Citral must be indicated in the list of ingredients when its concentration exceeds: 0.001% in leave-on the skin products 0.01% in products that are rinsed off the skin.
Link to the EU Cosmetic Regulation: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/consumers/product_labelling_and_packaging/co0013_en.htm
More information about the safety of fragrances.
More Scientific Information
Citral is a mixture of geranial and neral isomers. Geranial has a strong lemon odor while neral has a less intense, sweeter lemon odor.
Resources
Find out more about the regulation of Food Additives by the Food and Drug Administration
Food Ingredients and Packaging: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/default.htm
Food Contact Substances: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/PackagingFCS/default.htm
Substances Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS): http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/default.htm
Link to the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials: http://www.rifm.org/
Search the FDA Code of Federal Regulations http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm
EU Cosmetics Inventory http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/