also: Quinoline Yellow WS · D&C Yellow No. 10 · CI 47005 · Food Yellow 13
A synthetic greenish-yellow dye added to drinks, sweets, and sauces. One of the Southampton Six colours that carry a mandatory children's hyperactivity warning in the UK.
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Water, Barley Malt Vinegar, Thickener (Modified Maize Starch), Mustard, Sugar, Turmeric, Acid (Acetic Acid), Salt, Preservative (Sodium Metabisulphite), Colour (Quinoline Yellow)
One of the Southampton Six, the dyes linked to more hyperactivity in children in a trial paid for by the Food Standards Agency.
UK supermarket foods that declare E104: 7 of the 43,325 we checked (under 0.1%)
Counted by its code or its name in the ingredient list.
Counted by NutraSafe from UK supermarket ingredient lists, September 2026. How we counted
Why it’s worth knowing. One of the Southampton Six, the dyes linked to more hyperactivity in children in a trial paid for by the Food Standards Agency. UK law requires any food containing it to say it "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children". Lab studies have also found it switches on a cell receptor that interferes with oestrogen signals, though regulators have not yet looked at those findings.
Quinoline Yellow is a man-made greenish-yellow dye made in a factory from industrial chemicals. The food version dissolves in water and is sold as Quinoline Yellow WS. It is not allowed in food in the US. In the US it is only allowed in cosmetics and medicines used on the skin, as D&C Yellow No. 10.
It gives food and drink a greenish-yellow colour. It holds up fairly well in light and does not react with other ingredients, so the colour stays the same while the product sits on the shelf.
Smoked fish such as smoked haddock and cod, flavoured soft drinks, boiled sweets and chewing gum, mustard, sauces, desserts, fish roe, flavoured wines and some food supplements. Many big UK makers dropped it after the 2007 Southampton study, but it still turns up in some imported sweets, drinks and bakery items. UK labels call it Quinoline Yellow or E104, always with the children's hyperactivity warning.
A trial paid for by the Food Standards Agency and published in The Lancet gave children aged 3 and 8 to 9 either a mixture of six artificial colours, including Quinoline Yellow, with the preservative sodium benzoate, or plain fruit juice. The children scored clearly higher for hyperactivity after the mixture. The trial did not test E104 on its own, so it cannot say whether Quinoline Yellow drives the effect or whether the whole mixture is needed.
A mixture of six artificial colours including E104, plus sodium benzoate, clearly increased hyperactive behaviour in children aged 3 and 8 to 9 from the general population. Neither the children nor the researchers knew which drink was which.
After the trial, the law required any food or soft drink containing one of the six colours to say it "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children".
In 2009 European reviewers cut the daily limit for Quinoline Yellow from 10mg to 0.5mg per kg of body weight. Two things drove it: a rat study on reproduction and development that earlier reviews had not considered, and reports of allergy-like reactions. In 2015 they found that the children who eat the most sweets and flavoured drinks could come close to or go over the new limit.
Reviewers lowered the daily limit from 10mg to 0.5mg per kg of body weight.
Toddlers and children take in the most, up to an estimated 0.40mg per kg of body weight a day, close to the 0.5mg limit for those who eat a lot of coloured food.
Case reports, and European reviewers in 2009, note that some people get hives, a blocked or runny nose, or asthma after eating Quinoline Yellow. People who react to aspirin or to other man-made dyes seem more at risk. Reviewers said the evidence could not show whether Quinoline Yellow alone sets these off, or whether a mixture of colours is needed.
Reports linked Quinoline Yellow to hives, rhinitis and asthma, most often in people sensitive to aspirin or other man-made dyes, and often where several colours were eaten together.
A 2004 study on human blood cells in a dish found DNA damage, and a 2015 study on human liver cells found DNA breaks and chromosome damage at low concentrations.
Tests on human white blood cells and plant root cells found signs of DNA damage in a dish.
Low concentrations of Quinoline Yellow, 0.5 to 20 micrograms per ml, damaged DNA in human liver cells in a dish. Breakdown products formed after mimicking liver processing also damaged DNA.
A 2020 study by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment found Quinoline Yellow was the strongest of several yellow dyes at switching on a cell receptor called AhR. Switching on that receptor then dampened the cell's response to oestrogen. The researchers said this raises a possible concern and called for dyes to be screened for it. The work was done on cells in a dish, and food regulators have not yet assessed it.
Quinoline Yellow switched on the AhR receptor more strongly than related yellow dyes, and through it blocked oestrogen signalling in breast cancer cells grown in a dish, raising a possible hormone-disruption concern.
A 2025 study put zebrafish embryos in water containing Quinoline Yellow. At 0.5mg per ml and above they developed swelling around the heart, damaged yolk sacs, poor blood flow and small eyes, and 0.64mg per ml was lethal. The researchers called for more checks on its effects on development.
Zebrafish embryos exposed to 0.5mg per ml and above developed swelling around the heart, yolk sac damage, poor blood flow and small eyes. 0.64mg per ml was lethal. The researchers called for the current limits to be looked at again.
Daily limit. 0.5mg per kg of body weight a day, about 35mg for a 70kg adult (European reviewers 2009). The international committee set 3mg in 2016, but the UK and EU keep 0.5mg.
Parents who want to limit the Southampton Six colours should check for Quinoline Yellow or E104, which must always come with the warning "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children". Anyone sensitive to aspirin, or who reacts to other man-made dyes such as tartrazine (E102), should watch for it, as cross-reactions have been reported.
Quinoline Yellow is still being argued over by regulators. Its daily limit was cut 20-fold in 2009, and the children's warning came in because the evidence was strong enough to act on, even though the Southampton trial tested a mixture of six colours and could not pin the effect on E104 alone. Exposure estimates suggest that children who eat a lot of coloured sweets and soft drinks can come close to the lower limit.
Lab studies have also raised questions about DNA damage and interference with oestrogen signals. Food regulators have not yet formally re-assessed E104 in the light of those studies. It is a colour regulators have restricted step by step as evidence came in, with questions still open.
No. Quinoline Yellow is still allowed in UK food. The Food Standards Agency encouraged makers to drop it after the 2007 Southampton study, and any food or soft drink that still contains it must say it "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children". It is not allowed in food in the US.
A trial paid for by the Food Standards Agency and published in The Lancet in 2007 found that a mixture of six artificial colours including E104, with the preservative sodium benzoate, clearly increased hyperactive behaviour in children aged 3 and 8 to 9. From 2010 the law required the warning on any food containing one of the six. The trial tested the colours together, so it cannot separate out E104's own part.
It is approved in the UK, but with a low daily limit of 0.5mg per kg of body weight, cut 20-fold in 2009, and a legal children's behaviour warning. Children who eat a lot of coloured sweets and drinks can come close to that limit. Lab studies on cells found DNA damage and interference with oestrogen signals, and regulators have not yet re-assessed those findings.
Flavoured soft drinks, boiled sweets, chewing gum, candied fruit, sweet coatings, smoked fish such as haddock and cod, mustard, sauces, desserts, fish roe, flavoured wines and some food supplements. Many big UK brands dropped it after 2007. Look for Quinoline Yellow or E104 in the ingredients.
The dye itself is man-made and contains nothing from animals. But some commercial versions use gelatine to carry it, and gelatine comes from animals. If it matters to you, ask the maker or look for a vegan mark.
Last reviewed: 9 November 2026
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