E110 — Sunset yellow FCF
E110 (Sunset yellow FCF), a color, is rated "avoid": worth avoiding. An orange-yellow synthetic dye in candy, sodas, and cheese-flavoured snacks. Another of the six colours the EU requires to carry a warning about effects on children's activity and attention.
What is Sunset yellow FCF?
A petroleum-derived orange-yellow synthetic dye. Common in orange sodas, candy coatings, cheese-flavored snacks, and apricot jam. "FCF" stands for "for coloring food" — its entire job is to make the product look brighter than it is.
What does it do to the body?
One of the six dyes in the 2007 Southampton trial that linked artificial colour mixes to increased hyperactivity and inattention in children, at doses a child easily hits from ordinary snacks and drinks. Adults are far less affected. A minority also report skin rashes or stomach upset, with aspirin-sensitive people most likely to react.
What regulators say
EU labels must carry the "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children" warning, and EFSA cut its acceptable daily intake in 2009 after the Southampton review, settling on 4 mg per kg of body weight per day in 2014. The FDA still permits it as Yellow 6 but asked industry to phase it out voluntarily by the end of 2026; California bans it from school food from the end of 2027. European makers often reach for beta-carotene or paprika extract instead.
Risk rating: Avoid
Known or suspected to cause harm: a substance EFSA or another regulator has flagged, or one restricted in some jurisdictions. Best kept out of a regular diet.
Source: EU Regulation 1333/2008 (Annex V warning list) ↗