Short answer
Food colourants are additives used to restore colour lost in processing, even out natural variation or colour foods that would otherwise be colourless. They range from plant and mineral extracts (beetroot red, paprika, caramel, spirulina) to synthetic dyes (tartrazine, allura red). E numbers in the EU and 'FD&C' names in the US are naming and approval systems, not quality or hazard ratings, and the approved lists differ between jurisdictions and change over time.
EFSA gives three reasons food colours are used: to make up for colour lost to light, air, moisture or temperature during processing and storage; to enhance colours that occur naturally; and to colour foods that would otherwise be colourless or coloured differently. Canned peas, strawberry jam and farmed salmon feed are examples of the first two; sweets, soft drinks and icing are the third. Colour strongly shapes what people expect a food to taste like, which is why producers care about it, and why colour is regulated as an additive rather than left to manufacturers.
Colours are often sorted into natural and synthetic, but the split is less clean than it sounds. Some 'natural' colours are extracted and concentrated from plants (anthocyanins from grape skin, betanin from beetroot, carotenoids from paprika); some are made by controlled chemical processes from natural starting materials (caramel, copper chlorophyllin); some are minerals (iron oxides, calcium carbonate). Synthetic dyes such as tartrazine, sunset yellow and allura red are made from petrochemical intermediates and are usually brighter, cheaper per unit of colour and more stable to heat and light. Stability, not just origin, decides which colour suits a product.
In the EU every permitted additive has an E number and must be named on the label by its name or number; colours sit in the E 100s, from E 100 curcumin to E 180 litholrubine BK. EFSA re-evaluated all colours authorised before 2009 between 2009 and 2016. In the US, colour additives are either subject to batch certification by the FDA (the synthetic dyes, named FD&C Yellow No. 5 and so on) or exempt from certification (most plant, mineral and animal-derived colours). An E number means a substance is permitted for defined uses in the EU; it says nothing about whether it is natural, and a colour's absence from a list in one country does not mean it is absent everywhere.
Colour lists change. In January 2025 the US FDA revoked the authorisation of FD&C Red No. 3 in foods and ingested drugs, with an effective date for food of 15 January 2027. In 2025 it listed new colours exempt from certification, including galdieria extract blue (from a red alga) and gardenia (genipin) blue. In July 2026 it revoked the listing of Orange B, a sausage-casing colour whose use had been abandoned, and proposed revoking Citrus Red No. 2 for orange skins. In the EU, EFSA concluded in May 2021 that titanium dioxide (E 171) could no longer be considered safe as a food additive. Colourwise reports status only; it makes no health claims about any colour and this summary is not regulatory advice.
| Colour | Origin | EU number | Typical colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curcumin | Turmeric extract | E 100 | Yellow |
| Carmines | Cochineal insects | E 120 | Red to purple |
| Chlorophylls / copper complexes | Plant extract; copper-substituted | E 140 / E 141 | Olive green / bright green |
| Caramel colours | Heated carbohydrates | E 150a–d | Amber to brown |
| Carotenes, paprika extract | Plant or algal extracts | E 160a, E 160c | Yellow to red |
| Beetroot red | Beetroot | E 162 | Red-violet |
| Anthocyanins | Grape skin, berries, vegetables | E 163 | Red to purple (pH dependent) |
| Tartrazine | Synthetic azo dye | E 102 | Lemon yellow |
| Allura red AC | Synthetic azo dye | E 129 | Red |
| Iron oxides | Mineral | E 172 | Yellow, red, black |
Each statement is labelled by kind — established fact, a standard’s requirement, observed market data, a convention, or Colourwise’s own interpretation or analysis — with the strength of the evidence behind it.
FactStrong evidence
Food colours are added to make up for colour loss from light, air, moisture or temperature, to enhance natural colours, or to colour foods that would otherwise be colourless or coloured differently; in the EU they must be labelled by name or E number.
Source: Food colours (topic page)
FactStrong evidence
EFSA re-evaluated all food colours authorised in the EU before January 2009, completing the programme between 2009 and 2016.
Source: Food colours (topic page)
StandardStrong evidence· United States
The FDA revoked the colour additive regulations permitting FD&C Red No. 3 in foods and ingested drugs in an order published on 16 January 2025, effective for food on 15 January 2027.
StandardStrong evidence· United States
In 2025 the FDA listed galdieria extract blue and gardenia (genipin) blue as colour additives exempt from certification; in July 2026 it revoked Orange B (effective 8 September 2026) and proposed revoking Citrus Red No. 2 on orange skins.
Caveat: The Citrus Red No. 2 action was a proposal at the review date and may have changed since.
Source: Listing of Color Additives Exempt From Certification; Galdieria Extract Blue; Listing of Color Additives Exempt From Certification; Gardenia (Genipin) Blue; Revocation of the Color Additive Listing for Use of Orange B on Casings or Surfaces of Frankfurters and Sausages; Proposal To Revoke the Color Additive Listing for Use of Citrus Red No. 2 on the Skins of Mature Oranges
FactStrong evidence· European Union
In May 2021 EFSA's food additives panel concluded that titanium dioxide (E 171) could no longer be considered safe when used as a food additive, citing genotoxicity concerns that could not be ruled out.
Caveat: An EFSA scientific opinion, not itself a ban. The EU then removed E 171 by Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/63, in force from 7 February 2022 with a transition to 7 August 2022. Great Britain still permits E 171; Northern Ireland follows the EU rule.
Source: Titanium dioxide: E171 no longer considered safe when used as a food additive; Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/63 of 14 January 2022 as regards the food additive titanium dioxide (E 171); Approved additives and E numbers
Reviewed 29 September 2026. Colourwise summarises its sources in its own words and does not reproduce standards text or proprietary colour data. Spotted an error? Tell us.