Spoil

Additive register

Amaranth

E123·High

The published position

Banned in the United States since 1976; permitted in the EU only in caviar and some spirits.

US FDA; EU Regulation 1333/2008

Where it stands in law

United States

  • Banned · In force

    US FDA, 1976

European Union

  • Restricted · caviar and some spirits only · In force

    EU Regulation 1333/2008, Annex II

None of this moves a score. A law tells you what a shop may sell where you live, which is a different question from what is in the packet, and mixing the two would make two people’s scores for the same product incomparable.

How much of it counts

The penalty for this additive scales with how much of it can be in the product. Where a label bounds it, at a declared percentage or under a “less than 2%” clause, the penalty shrinks accordingly. Where nothing bounds it, the penalty stands in full. The rule is here.

See the Open Food Facts record for E123