What is it?
Tartrazine is a man-made yellow dye built from petroleum-based chemicals. It is an azo dye, one of the Southampton Six colours, and it does not occur in nature.
Tartrazine
also: FD&C Yellow No. 5 · Yellow 5 · Acid Yellow 23 · CI 19140
A synthetic lemon-yellow colouring made from petroleum, used to make drinks, sweets and snacks look brighter. UK law makes it carry a children's warning.
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Water, Carbon Dioxide, Citric Acid, Flavouring, Sweeteners (Saccharin, *Aspartame), Colours: (E102, E124) (Preservative (Sodium Benzoate), *Contains Phenylalanine
E102
Tartrazine
Linked to worse activity and attention in some children when mixed with other colours.
VeganVegetarianHalalKosher
55
of the 43,325 UK supermarket foods we checked declare E102 in their ingredients
That is 0.1%, counted by its code or its name.
Most of these labels print the code: 80% show “E102”.
Counted by NutraSafe from UK supermarket ingredient lists, September 2026. How we counted
How common it is in UK food, by aisle
- Soft drinks and juices13 products0.5% of 2,627
- Cakes, biscuits and desserts11 products0.3% of 3,715
- Alcoholic drinks6 products0.3% of 1,857
- Cupboard staples6 products0.3% of 1,936
What tartrazine is, what it does and where you will see it
Why it’s worth knowing. Linked to worse activity and attention in some children when mixed with other colours. It can set off hives, swelling or asthma flares in sensitive people, especially those who react to aspirin.
What does it do?
It makes food and drink bright yellow, or green when mixed with a blue dye. It is there for looks only. It adds no flavour, nutrition or shelf life.
Where you will see it
Soft drinks, squashes, sweets, jellies, ice lollies, cakes, snacks, sauces, pickles and some packet desserts. UK labels call it tartrazine or E102, and the pack must also carry a warning that it may affect children's behaviour.
What the science says
Linked to more hyperactivity in some children, as part of a mixture
A 2007 UK trial paid for by the Food Standards Agency gave children drinks containing tartrazine, other dyes and a preservative, and measured their behaviour. Some children were a little more hyperactive. The effect was for the mixture, not tartrazine alone, and it varied from child to child.
Mixtures of artificial colours including tartrazine, plus the preservative sodium benzoate, were linked to more hyperactivity in 3-year-olds and 8 to 9-year-olds from the general population.
2007Randomised trial in peopleMcCann et al., The Lancet
European reviewers said the study gave limited evidence of a small effect on activity and attention in some children. Because the effects were not consistent across the two age groups and two mixtures, they did not use it to change the daily limit.
2008Regulator reviewEFSA AFC Panel opinion on the Southampton study
Can set off hives, swelling and asthma in sensitive people
In a small number of people tartrazine can bring on skin and breathing reactions. It is reported more often in people who also react to aspirin. Few people are affected, but the reactions are real.
Tartrazine has been reported to bring on hives, swelling, eczema and asthma in susceptible people, with a known overlap with aspirin sensitivity.
1990ObservationalTartrazine sensitivity review, PubMed (Stevenson et al.)
The US FDA makes labels name tartrazine (FD&C Yellow No. 5) because it may cause allergy-like reactions, including asthma, in certain susceptible people.
LawUS FDA labelling requirement, 21 CFR
European reviewers kept its daily limit in 2009
European regulators looked at tartrazine again in 2009, including newer studies on behaviour, DNA and development. They kept its daily limit and judged the hyperactivity findings not enough to change it.
Reviewers found the evidence did not justify changing the daily limit of 7.5mg per kg of body weight.
2009Regulator reviewEFSA Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluation of Tartrazine (E102), EFSA Journal
Where it stands with the regulators
Allowed in the UK and EU as a food colour, but packs must carry a children's behaviour warning. Allowed in the US as FD&C Yellow No. 5.
Daily limit. 7.5mg per kg of body weight a day, about 525mg for a 70kg adult (European reviewers, confirmed 2009).
- Legal basis
- UK and EU additive law lists it as a permitted colour and requires the Southampton Six warning. In the US it is a certified colour.
- Permitted foods
- Soft drinks and flavoured drinks · Sweets · Snacks and savoury coatings · Sauces, pickles and mustards · Ices and desserts
- Maximum levels
- Set separately for each type of food.
- History
- The 2007 University of Southampton study, paid for by the Food Standards Agency, linked mixtures of six dyes plus sodium benzoate to hyperactivity. The agency asked makers to stop using the six colours voluntarily. From 2010 the law required any product containing one of them to say it "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children". The dyes are still legal in the UK, the EU and the US, but far fewer UK products use them now than US products do.
Who should be careful
People with asthma or who react to aspirin, and parents managing a child's hyperactivity, may want to avoid it. Look for tartrazine or E102 in the ingredients, and the children's behaviour warning on the pack. Tartrazine is one of the Southampton Six, the colours that warning exists for.
The honest read
Tartrazine has two sourced reasons to know about it. UK law requires a children's behaviour warning on it, and it sets off allergy-like reactions in a small group of sensitive people. Regulators kept it legal and left its daily limit alone, while the Food Standards Agency pushed makers to drop it. Both are true at once: it is still allowed, and many UK brands took it out anyway.
Common questions about tartrazine
Is E102 banned in the UK?
No. Tartrazine is legal in the UK, but any food or drink containing it must carry a warning that it "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children".
Does tartrazine cause hyperactivity in children?
A 2007 trial paid for by the Food Standards Agency linked a mixture of dyes including tartrazine, plus a preservative, to small increases in hyperactivity in some children. It tested the mixture, not tartrazine alone, and the effect varied. European reviewers judged it not strong enough to change the daily limit, but the UK still requires the warning label.
Is E102 harmful?
It is allowed, with a daily limit of 7.5mg per kg of body weight and a legal children's behaviour warning. The trial behind the warning found a small effect in some children from a mixture of colours. It can set off hives, swelling or asthma in a small number of sensitive people, especially those who react to aspirin.
What foods contain E102?
Soft drinks and squashes, sweets, jellies, ice lollies, cakes, snacks, sauces and pickles. On the label it appears as tartrazine or E102.
Is E102 vegan?
Tartrazine is made from petroleum-based chemicals, not from animals, so the colour itself is suitable for vegans. The rest of the product may still contain animal ingredients.
Sources
- McCann et al., Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in children, The Lancet (2007)
- EFSA evaluates the Southampton study on food additives and child behaviour
- EFSA Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluation of Tartrazine (E102), EFSA Journal (2009)
- Food Standards Agency, Food additives
- Stevenson et al., Tartrazine sensitivity, PubMed
Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
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