Tartrazine

Studies in people

• Concern

  Children's behaviour and liver health³

  Some studies link tartrazine to hyperactivity in children, and animal studies show liver and nerve effects.

• Concern

  Skin and breathing reactions⁴

  Some people react to tartrazine with hives, asthma or skin rashes, though scientists do not yet know why.

• No harm found

  Asthma control⁵

  In people with asthma, tartrazine challenges or avoiding it in the diet did not clearly change asthma symptoms.

• Concern

  Allergic reactions to food dye⁶

  Tartrazine, a common additive in foods and drugs, often causes hives, swelling, asthma and hyperactive behaviour.

• No harm found

  Children's behaviour after food additives⁷

  In tests, tartrazine caused no behaviour changes in children whose parents blamed it for bad reactions.

• No harm found

  Allergic reactions in atopic people⁹

  In 26 atopic people, tartrazine did not cause skin, breathing or heart reactions compared with placebo.

• Concern

  Asthma flare-ups from drinks¹⁰

  In people with asthma, tartrazine in orange drinks triggered a flare-up in one of fourteen tested.

Animal and lab studies only

• Concern

  Liver health¹⁷

  In animal and lab studies, tartrazine and its breakdown products were linked to liver cell changes, but how this happens is unclear.

• Concern

  Stomach and gut cells¹⁸

  In lab studies, tartrazine harmed human stomach cells and blocked cell division in onion roots.

• Concern

  Blood vessel growth¹⁹

  In lab and animal studies, tartrazine disrupted blood vessel cell growth and tube formation.

• Concern

  Organ gene activity²⁰

  In animal studies, tartrazine changed gene activity in the liver, kidneys, lungs and spleen.

• Concern

  Early puberty in girls²¹

  In animal studies, tartrazine made young female rats show signs of puberty sooner and raised their hormone levels.

• Concern

  Blood cell damage²²

  In lab studies, tartrazine harmed human blood cells at some doses but showed no signs of DNA damage.

• Concern

  Lymphocyte DNA damage²³

  In lab studies, tartrazine damaged human lymphocyte DNA at all tested levels, and some damage remained after repair.

• Concern

  Immune system effects²⁴

  In lab studies, tartrazine weakened immune cell activity at levels that did not kill the cells.

• Concern

  Bone healing after injury²⁵

  In animal studies, tartrazine slowed how new bone hardened after a hole was drilled in the shinbone.

• Concern

  Thyroid gland changes²⁶

  In rats, 60 days of tartrazine before a bone injury made thyroid cell changes worse.

• Concern

  Weight gain in rats²⁷

  In animal studies, rats given tartrazine every day gained weight more slowly than untreated rats.

• Concern

  Thyroid gland size²⁸

  In animal studies, tartrazine shrank the thyroid gland of rats after 60 days of daily feeding.

• Concern

  Parathyroid gland cells²⁹

  In animal studies, tartrazine changed the tiny structures inside rat parathyroid cells, and the changes grew with the dose.

Study type not stated

• Concern

  Food dye health effects¹⁵

  Tartrazine, a food dye, may cause hyperactivity, allergy and asthma in humans.

• Concern

  Food intolerance reactions¹⁶

  Tartrazine may trigger intolerance reactions, mostly in people who already have hives or asthma, but scientists do not yet know how.

Allergies and intolerances

These are about people with an allergy, an intolerance or coeliac disease. The signal is about the ingredient itself, and these are about the person eating it, so the signal does not count them.

• Blood test intolerance duration¹²

  In people who cannot tolerate tartrazine, blood tests showed reactions linked to how long they had the problem.

• Asthma and hives¹⁴

  In people with asthma or hives, tartrazine triggered reactions in some who were also sensitive to aspirin.

Single cases of misuse or overdose

One person or one incident, such as an accidental overdose or a mistake in a kitchen or factory. They are real, but a single case does not show what happens at normal amounts, so the signal does not count them.

• Skin reaction to food colouring⁸

  In one girl, tartrazine caused a repeat skin rash on her hand.

• Asthma triggered by food colouring¹³

  A man's asthma was set off by tartrazine alone, not by aspirin or similar painkillers.

How it’s made and used

• Dye levels in fizzy drinks¹¹

  Four fizzy drinks had more tartrazine than the limit, but adults' intake stayed low.

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.

Expert panels that weigh all the research. Shown for context: the signal at the top does not count them.

• UN and WHO food additive experts (JECFA), 2016

  Acceptable daily intake: up to 10 mg per kg of body weight.