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Additives

Carmoisine (E122): What It Is and Is It Safe?

Hazardous Colour · Azo dye

Synthetic red azo dye. One of the "Southampton Six" colourings proven to cause hyperactivity in children. EU warning label mandatory. Banned in the USA, Canada, Japan, Norway, and Sweden.

Category
Colour — Azo dye
Typically used in
Sweets, marzipan, jelly, cheesecake mix, blancmange
Regulatory status
EU warning label required. Banned USA/Canada/Japan.
Also listed as
Azorubine
Concerns flagged
Possible allergenHyperactivity link

Scrannr flags Carmoisine automatically when you scan a barcode.

Sources

Where this comes from

  1. EFSA (2009) — Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluationof Azorubine/Carmoisine -E 122- as a food additive http://dx.doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1332
  2. McCann et al. (2007) — Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children: randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial (Southampton study) https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61306-3
Products

Products containing Carmoisine

We're building product pages that show real UK products containing Carmoisine, using Open Food Facts data. They'll appear here soon — in the meantime, scan any barcode with the Scrannr app to check for it instantly.

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