E123 — Amaranth
E123 (Amaranth), a color, is rated "avoid": worth avoiding. A dark red synthetic dye. Banned for food use in the United States since 1976 and tightly restricted in the EU. EFSA cut the safe daily intake by more than 80% in 2010.
What is Amaranth?
A dark reddish-purple synthetic dye. Now mostly limited to aperitif wines like Italian Campari-style products and a few fish-roe items in Europe. Not used in mainstream food.
What does it do to the body?
Old rat studies suggested tumor effects at high doses, prompting the US ban. EFSA's 2010 review found it not genotoxic or carcinogenic, but the safety margin was reduced. Easy to avoid since it is rare in modern food.
What regulators say
The FDA banned it from food in 1976 over carcinogenicity concerns. EFSA dropped the acceptable daily intake from 0.8 to 0.15 mg per kg of body weight per day in 2010 and restricted permitted uses sharply.
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: EFSA — re-evaluation of amaranth (2010) ↗