INS 442 is ammonium salts of phosphatidic acid, usually called ammonium phosphatides and numbered E442 in Europe. Codex lists it as an emulsifier. Chemically it resembles lecithin, but it is manufactured rather than extracted.
Production starts from an edible fat, usually partially hardened rapeseed oil, which is reacted with glycerol, treated with phosphorus pentoxide and finally neutralised with ammonia. The result is a mix of phospholipid-like compounds. Rapeseed oil is the usual starting point, although other edible fats are allowed.
Its main use is in chocolate and chocolate-flavoured coatings. Like lecithin, it lowers the thickness of liquid chocolate so it flows into thin, even layers, and it has a neutral taste. On SeekSnack it appears on Today Snowball Cake With Milk Cream, whose label lists it as an emulsifier together with polyglycerol esters of fatty acids (INS 475).
