Compounds (citric acid derivatives) represented by formulae (1) and (2) are novel compounds that have hepatic disorder inhibitory effect, and are able to be used as hepatic disorder inhibitors and food additives. (In the formulae, R1 represents a C1-C3 alkyl group which may have a carboxyl group or a hydroxyl group and R2 represents a hydrogen atom; or alternatively, R1 and R2 may combine together to form a cyclic structure and represent a C2-C3 alkylene chain.)