E150aColour
Plain caramel
A food colouring that dissolves in water.
Written from Open Food Facts taxonomy1
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- EU permitted
What research says
Study type not stated
-
No harm found
cancer and DNA damage2
Plain caramel has been tested for cancer and DNA damage, and studies found no such effects.
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 two findings in people. 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.
Regulatory status
Checked Sep 2026-
European Union Permitted EUR-Lex Reg. (EC) 1333/2008
-
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 26,511 products on Open Food Facts that list plain caramel.
- Caprice Papadopoulos · 115 g 5 additives
- Red bull sugar free Red Bull · 250 ml 9 additives
- Pringles Hot Smokin’ BBQ Ribs Flavour Pringles · 160 g 8 additives
- Kong Strong Wild Power Energy Drink Sugar Free Lidl · 250 ml 5 additives
- Bovril Beef Bovril · 250 g 4 additives
- GINGER ALE CANADA DRY · 355 ml 3 additives
References
- 1Plain caramel: ingredient taxonomy entry. Open Food Facts.
- 2Vollmuth TA. Caramel color safety - An update. Food Chem Toxicol. 2018;111:578-596. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2017.12.004