Malic acid is the acid that makes green apples taste tart. In fruit it occurs as the L-form; the food additive numbered INS 296 is DL-malic acid, an equal mix of the two mirror-image forms, which is made synthetically. It is E296 in the EU, and Codex lists it as an acidity regulator.
Its sourness builds more slowly and lasts longer than that of citric acid, so it is popular in sour sweets and in savoury seasonings that need a fruity or tangy edge. On SeekSnack it appears in Pringles Larb Flavour, a seasoning modelled on the tangy Thai minced-meat salad, as well as in Pringles Pizza and Taokaenoi’s cheese-flavoured crispy seaweed.
