Certifiable Food Colors
| Name | Hue | Common food uses | Toxicity |
|
FD&C blue No 1 Brilliant Blue FCF |
Bright blue | Beverages, dairy products, dessert powders, Jellies, confections, condiments, Icing, syrup extract | Small cancer risk, banned in several countries |
|
FD&C blue No 2 Indigo tine |
Royal blue | Baked goods, cereal, snack foods, ice cream, confections, cherries | Brain tumor in mice, may cause rash in human; banned in Norway |
|
FD&C Green No 3 Fast green FCF |
Sea green | Beverage, pudding, ice cream, sherbet, cherries, confections, baked goods, dairy products | Possible carcinogen |
|
FD&C Red No 40 Allure Red AC |
Orange red | Gelatins, pudding, dairy products, confections, beverages, condiments | Carcinogenic and mutagenic in animals |
|
FD&C Red No 3 Erythrosine |
Cherry red | Cherries in fruit cocktails and fruit salads, confections, baked goods, dairy products, snack foods | History of Thyroid tumor in animals |
|
FD&C Yellow No 5 Tartrazine |
Lemon yellow | Custard, beverage, ice cream, confections, preserves, cereals | Cancer, breathing difficulty; banned in many countries |
|
FD&C Yellow No 6 Sunset yellow |
Orange | Cereals, baked goods, snack foods, ice cram, beverages, desert and confections | Suspected to cause tumor in adrenal gland and kidney ; may cause allergy, hyperactivity and chromosomal damage. It is banned in Norway |
table prepared by Sujata Patel MA, RD, CDN, CCN
