E122Colour
Azorubine
What the research shows
Concerning
in animal and lab studies only
A red colouring known as carmoisine.
It is mainly used in foods that are heat-treated after fermentation.1
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- EU permitted with restrictions
What research says
Animal and lab studies only
-
Concern
Blood protein clumping2
Azorubine changed the shape of a blood protein, and at acidic pH it made the protein clump.
The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.
What expert reviews concluded
Expert panels that weigh all the research. Shown for context: the signal at the top does not count them. IARC rates whether something can cause cancer at all, not how likely it is at the amounts in food.
-
UN and WHO food additive experts (JECFA), 1983
Acceptable daily intake: up to 4 mg per kg of body weight.
-
WHO cancer agency (IARC), 1987
Not enough evidence to say whether it causes cancer in people (Group 3).
Regulatory status
Checked Sep 2026-
European Union Permitted With restrictions EUR-Lex Reg. (EC) 1333/2008 With the exception of: (a) foods where the colour(s) has been used for the purposes of health or other marking on meat products or for stamping or decorative colouring on eggshells; and (b) beverages containing more than 1,2 % by volume of alcohol.
-
United Kingdom Permitted FSA retained EU law
Status reflects the named register on the date checked. It is not a safety rating. A country appears here once we've found this ingredient on its official list.
How we checkProducts
The 6 most-scanned of 47 products on Open Food Facts that list azorubine.
- WeiKFiELD Weikfield · 100 3 additives
- strawberry calpol · 100 ml 8 additives
- Sweet chilli pepper flavoured corn chips Doritos · 145 g 12 additives
- Gaviscon double action 24 tab 3 additives
- Vopsea ouo Alex · 17 g 9 additives
- Noesis Angel Hair Chocolate NOESIS 2 additives
References
- 1Azorubine. Wikipedia. Accessed September 26, 2026. CC BY-SA 4.0.
- 2Khan MS, Rehman MT, Shaik GM, et al. Aggregation and cytotoxicity of food additive dye (Azorubine)-albumin adducts: a multi-spectroscopic, microscopic and computational analysis. J Biomol Struct Dyn. 2025;43(2):946-956. doi:10.1080/07391102.2023.2289046