Food additives permitted in the EU: colours
Below is a review of some of the colours present in the list of food additives approved in the European Community on the basis of the European Commission regulation No 1129/2011 published on 11 November 2011. This list is an amendment of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No. 1333/2008 of the European Parliament, and was itself modified in 2013. It is possible to consult the list in its entirety, both in PDF and HTML format and in the different European languages, by following the link in the References.
| E100, E101, E102, E103, E104, E110, E120, E122, E123, E124, E127, E129, E131, E132, E133, E140, E141, E142, E150a, E150b, E150c, E150d, E151, E153, E155, E160a, E160b, E160c, E160d, E160e, E160f, E161b, E161g, E162, E163, E170, E171, E172, E173, E174, E175, E180 |
| Yellow and orange colours |
| E100 Curcumin |
| E101 (i) Riboflavin, (ii) Riboflavin-5′-phosphate (vitamin B2) |
| E102 Tartrazine (= FD&C Yellow no. 5) |
| E104 Quinoline yellow |
| E110 Sunset Yellow FCF; Orange Yellow S (= FD&C Yellow no. 6) |
| Red colours |
| E120 Cochineal; Carminic acid; Carmines |
| E122 Azorubine; Carmoisine |
| E123 Amaranth |
| E124 Ponceau 4R; Cochineal Red A |
| E127 Erythrosine (= FD&C Red no. 3) |
| E129 Allura Red AC (= FD&C Red no. 40) |
| Blue colours |
| E131 Patent Blue V |
| E132 lndigotine; Indigo Carmine (= FD&C Blue no. 2) |
| E133 Brilliant Blue FCF (= FD&C Blue no. 1) |
| Green colours |
| E140 Chlorophylls and chlorophyllins: (i) Chlorophylls, (ii) Chlorophyllins (the natural green colour of leaves) |
| E141 Copper complexes of chlorophyll and chlorophyllins |
| E142 Green S |
| Brown and black colours |
| E150a Plain caramel |
| E150b Caustic sulphite caramel |
| E150c Ammonia caramel |
| E150d Sulphite ammonia caramel |
| E151 Brilliant Black BN; Black PN |
| E153 Vegetable carbon |
| E155 Brown HT |
| Derivatives of carotene |
| E160a Carotenes: (i) Mixed carotenes, (ii) Beta-carotene |
| E160b Annatto; Bixin; Norbixin |
| E160c Paprika extract; Capsanthin; Capsorubin |
| E160d Lycopene |
| E160e trans-beta-apo-8′-carotenal (C30) |
| E160f Ethyl ester of beta-apo-8′-carotenoic acid (C30) |
| Other plant colours |
| E161b Lutein |
| E161g Canthaxanthin |
| E162 Beetroot Red; Betanin |
| E163 Anthocyanins |
| Other compounds used as colours |
| E170 Calcium carbonate |
| E171 Titanium dioxide |
| E172 Iron oxides and hydroxides |
| E173 Aluminium |
| E174 Silver |
| E175 Gold |
| E180 Litholrubine BK |
| FD&C USA; abbreviation for synthetic colours permitted for use in food, drugs and cosmetics. |
References
Bender D.A. “Benders’ Dictionary of Nutrition and Food Technology” 8th ed. Woodhead Publishing. Oxford, 2006
Commission Regulation (EU) No 1129/2011 of 11 November 2011 amending Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council by establishing a Union list of food additives. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/1129/2013-11-21