INS 904 is the code for shellac
The shine on coated sweets, chocolate lentils, some fruit and most coated tablets. Shellac is a resin secreted by the lac insect and scraped off the branches it settles on; a large share of the world's supply comes from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Nothing plant-derived does the same job as well, which is why it persists.
- What it does
- Gives it a shine A glazing agent
- Also printed as
- Confectioner's glaze · Lac
- Vegetarian?
- Not vegetarian From animals
- In the Zabel score
- Takes no points off Method 1.0.0
- In our catalogue
- 10 packs List it in their ingredients
Is INS 904 vegetarian?
INS 904 is made from animal material, so it is not vegetarian. A pack that lists it should carry the brown mark.
Too few packs in our catalogue list INS 904 for a breakdown by food to mean anything yet. We print one once at least 20 categorised packs carry it.
What does the evidence say about INS 904?
We grade an additive by the evidence about it, not by whether it sounds like a chemical, and we make no claim about whether a pack complies with FSSAI rules.
No toxicological concern - it is not absorbed and JECFA has raised none. It is in the rulebook because of where it comes from. Whether an insect secretion makes a food non-vegetarian is not settled the way meat is: Indian practice generally treats lac, like honey and beeswax, as acceptable under the green mark, while people avoiding all animal-derived ingredients do not. We report it and show you the code that produced the finding rather than deciding that question on your behalf.
Does Zabel mark INS 904 down?
No. On the evidence we hold it takes nothing off the score (method 1.0.0). Read the method.
Questions people search
What is INS 904?
INS 904 is the code for shellac, a glazing agent. The shine on coated sweets, chocolate lentils, some fruit and most coated tablets. Shellac is a resin secreted by the lac insect and scraped off the branches it settles on; a large share of the world's supply comes from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Nothing plant-derived does the same job as well, which is why it persists.
Is INS 904 vegetarian?
INS 904 is made from animal material, so it is not vegetarian. A pack that lists it should carry the brown mark.
What does the evidence say about INS 904?
No toxicological concern - it is not absorbed and JECFA has raised none. It is in the rulebook because of where it comes from. Whether an insect secretion makes a food non-vegetarian is not settled the way meat is: Indian practice generally treats lac, like honey and beeswax, as acceptable under the green mark, while people avoiding all animal-derived ingredients do not. We report it and show you the code that produced the finding rather than deciding that question on your behalf.
Does Zabel mark INS 904 down?
No. On the evidence we hold it takes nothing off the score (method 1.0.0).
What other names is INS 904 printed under?
Packs also print it as Confectioner's glaze and Lac, or as the bare number 904 in brackets after the ingredient.
Sources
- 01 General Standard for Food Additives (CXS 192-1995) Codex Alimentarius, 2023
- 02 Evaluations of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) WHO / FAO, 2024
- 03 Zabel catalogue - pack counts, food categories and the codes printed alongside 4 Nov 2026
Entry updated 19 Sep 2026 · Not reviewed by a dietitian yet · Report an error on this page
Point the camera at the pack.
Zabel reads every INS code on it, shows the score, and shows the working.