Is Carboxymethyl-Lysine safe in food and drink?
Food processing1 use researched2 sourced claims
Where it turns up: advanced glycation end product in food. Detox My Life researched carboxymethyl-lysine under one use, because the same substance means something different in each use. Every claim below carries its evidence tier, how sure the research is that it applies here, and the sources it cites. The level is computed by the app's own deterministic engine, so the page says exactly what the app would.
Level by use and lens
| Use | Mainstream | Cautious (default) | Based | Concerns · favour · fringe |
|---|
| Eaten or drunk | Clean | Low | Low | 2 · 0 |
Mainstream shows consensus claims only; Cautious adds emerging research; Based adds fringe claims, labelled as such. The last column counts, under Cautious, the sourced concerns, the findings in its favour and the fringe claims Based would add.
Safer swaps: the app's swap catalog has no entry tied to this ingredient yet. When you scan a product that contains it, the app suggests cleaner alternative types for that product; the swap categories list what the catalog covers today.
Eaten or drunk Low
Under the default Cautious lens carboxymethyl-lysine in food and drink rates Low: a little concern, nothing the app would ask you to swap. Mainstream (consensus only) rates it Clean; Based (adds the fringe) rates it Low. Researched 2026-09-03.
Sourced concerns (2)
EmergingOxidation by-productsconfidence 70%
Ingestion of carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) is linked in animal studies to inducing oxidative stress and causing damage to organs such as the liver, kidneys, lungs, and heart.
- Why here
- CML is a common advanced glycation end product (AGE) found in heat-processed foods, and when ingested, it can be absorbed and contribute to systemic oxidative stress.
- What would have to be true
- Repeated oral administration in mice at doses of 200-1000 mg/kg for 28 days, or chronic oral administration in rats at 60 mg/kg per day for 12 weeks. Human dietary intake from heat-processed foods can range from approximately 20-650 μg/kg body weight per day, with some high Maillard reaction product diets reaching 5.4 mg/day.
Sources the engine cites:
EmergingMetabolicconfidence 60%
Ingestion of exogenous carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) has been suggested to aggravate diabetes-associated cognitive dysfunction in rats, potentially through mechanisms involving neuroinflammation and metabolic disorders, and CML accumulation is linked to the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
- Why here
- CML, as a dietary advanced glycation end product (AGE), can be absorbed and accumulate in tissues, including the brain, where it may contribute to neurological damage and dysfunction.
- What would have to be true
- Oral consumption of exogenous CML in diabetic rats for 8 weeks. Human dietary intake from heat-processed foods can range from approximately 20-650 μg/kg body weight per day, with some high Maillard reaction product diets reaching 5.4 mg/day.
Sources the engine cites:
Not researched here
The engine has no dossier for carboxymethyl-lysine when cooked with heat, in cold food, as a finishing ingredient, in heated food packaging or other uses. The app researches an ingredient for the use it infers from your product, so a scan fills these in; this page only shows what has already been researched and source-verified.
This is research, not medical advice. Detox My Life shows sourced claims sorted by evidence tier. It does not diagnose, treat, or tell you to start or stop anything. Talk to a qualified professional about your health.
Scan your own. The app reads any product label with your camera, works out how you are about to use it, and researches every ingredient for that use with live sources. Every scan adds to a Detox Score for your home, where 50 is a typical home in your region, and a plan of next swaps.
See also: all ingredients · paste a label to check it · how to read an ingredient flag
