Green Tea Extract & EGCG Guide — “Catechin” Is Three Different Numbers: 540, 150 and 30 mg

Notification counts come from the Consumer Affairs Agency “Foods with Function Claims” database, snapshot of 5 October 2026, counted by functional ingredient name after splitting multi-ingredient entries on their separators. “Past twelve months” means a notification date on or after 1 October 2025.

1. The register splits catechin three ways

Functional ingredient name	Total	Active	Past 12 mo.	Modal daily amount	Leading claims
Tea catechins	71	48	7	540 mg (44)	body fat 17 · attention 9
Gallate-type catechins	64	45	6	150 mg (31) / 340 mg (17)	body fat 34 · blood glucose 9
Epigallocatechin gallate	8	5	1	30 mg (2)	blood glucose 4 · triglycerides 2
Methylated catechin	18	—	—	—	(a different compound, from benifuuki)

540 mg against 30 mg is eighteenfold. It is not a typo. They count different things.

• Tea catechins — the sum of the catechins (EC, EGC, ECg, EGCg and others)
• Gallate-type catechins — of those, the ones carrying a gallate group (ECg, EGCg)
• Epigallocatechin gallate — EGCg alone

They nest, so the same material at the same inclusion rate yields a different number depending on which name you notify. Put the other way round: if the specification does not quantify that layer, you cannot notify under that name. Methylated catechin, incidentally, is a different compound found in cultivars such as benifuuki and is not specified in ordinary green tea extract.

2. The specification is layered the same way

Our three grades, side by side.

Grade	Total polyphenols	Total catechins	EGCg
Tea extract	≥98% (UV)	≥80.0% (HPLC)	≥50.0% (HPLC)
Tea extract (EGCG 70%)	≥98.0% (UV)	≥90.0% (HPLC)	≥70.0% (HPLC)
Tea extract (EGCG 98%)	—	—	≥98.0% (HPLC)

Total polyphenols is measured by UV absorbance; total catechins and EGCg by HPLC. Different instruments, so the numbers cannot be added or subtracted. “98% total polyphenols but only 80% total catechins” is not a contradiction — it is two different rulers.

Working backwards from a notification of 540 mg of tea catechins:

• at ≥80% total catechins — 540 ÷ 0.80 = 675 mg of raw material
• at ≥90% total catechins — 540 ÷ 0.90 = 600 mg of raw material
• the EGCG 98% grade does not specify total catechins, so that name cannot be used with it

Conversely, 30 mg of EGCg needs about 31 mg of the 98% grade, or 60 mg of the 50% grade. The same “catechin raw material” varies twentyfold in required quantity depending on the notified name. It is the same structure described for bilberry and ceramide: notified in components, ordered as extract.

3. The CAS number cannot distinguish the grades

All three grades above carry the same CAS number, 84650-60-2. The 50% grade and the 98% grade are, as far as CAS is concerned, the same substance.

A CAS number identifies a substance, not a product. For an extract, the material is only pinned down by botanical source (species and plant part), extraction method, and the specified marker content. A purchase order that cites CAS without the grade can be filled with a grade you cannot notify on. See also What is a CAS number.

4. Put caffeine on the specification

Caffeine is the item most often left off a green tea extract specification. Depending on purification it ranges from 0.1% to several percent, and some materials do not specify it at all.

• High-purity EGCg grades are sometimes specified at ≤0.1% caffeine (HPLC)
• Material that has not been decaffeinated can carry several percent
• At a high daily charge (540 mg of tea catechins means 600–675 mg of raw material), even 1% caffeine adds 6–7 mg

For products where caffeine matters — before sleep, for pregnant women, for children — require caffeine as a specified item and verify it on the lot certificate. There is no statutory ceiling, so if it is not agreed, it is not controlled. Catechins and caffeine can be quantified in the same HPLC run, so most manufacturers can supply the figure on request.

5. It degrades in storage — get an end-of-shelf-life guarantee

EGCg is sensitive to oxidation, light, heat and alkaline pH. In concentrated material, epimerisation (EGCg to GCg and similar) is more common than oxidation. Epimerisation moves the HPLC peak, so the value reported as EGCg falls.

A study of 30 commercial tea extracts reported that actual content differed substantially from the supplier’s stated figures in some products. Three practical responses:

1. Establish when the guaranteed value applies — at manufacture, or at end of shelf life. Design the label figure on the latter
2. Decide whether you will test on receipt — do not rely on the CoA alone
3. Share storage conditions and the thermal history of your process up front — if tabletting, granulation or sterilisation raises the temperature, confirm the retention afterwards

6. Regulatory standing, and a note on export

Tea extract is listed in Japan’s Existing Food Additives List as item 184, “cha extract (obtained from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, principally catechins)”. Note that the list uses the katakana form チャ rather than the kanji 茶 — specifications and labelling sometimes have to match the listed item name. “Catechin” is separately listed as item 56.

If export or overseas OEM is in scope, the EU sets a limit of 800 mg per day for green tea catechins (as EGCg). A formulation designed at a high domestic dose may not be shippable as is. Where the destination is known, check the ceiling before the formulation is fixed.

7. Five things to settle before ordering

1. Which notified name — tea catechins, gallate-type catechins, or EGCg. The required quantity varies twentyfold
2. Does the specification quantify that layer? A grade that does not specify total catechins cannot carry a “tea catechins” notification
3. Caffeine content — specified, and verified per lot
4. When the guaranteed value applies — at manufacture or at end of shelf life
5. State the grade — CAS is identical across all three; the purchase order needs the grade and the marker specifications

FONTIA carries tea extract, EGCG 70% and EGCG 98%. Tell us the notified name you are working towards and we will start from which grade can actually carry it.