also: Cochineal Red A · New Coccine · Brilliant Scarlet 4R · Food Red 7
A synthetic red azo dye used to give food and drink a bright strawberry-red colour. One of the Southampton Six colours linked to hyperactivity in children.
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Water, Carbon Dioxide, Citric Acid, Flavouring, Sweeteners (Saccharin, *Aspartame), Colours: (E102, E124) (Preservative (Sodium Benzoate), *Contains Phenylalanine
Regular intake in children is linked to more hyperactivity and attention problems.
52
of the 43,325 UK supermarket foods we checked declare E124 in their ingredients
That is 0.1%, counted by its code or its name.
Counted by NutraSafe from UK supermarket ingredient lists, September 2026. How we counted
Why it’s worth knowing. Regular intake in children is linked to more hyperactivity and attention problems. European reviewers found in 2009 that children can go over the daily limit even at typical use. A mouse study found kidney damage at higher doses, and that led to a big cut in the daily limit.
Ponceau 4R is a man-made red dye made from petroleum-based chemicals. Labels may also call it Cochineal Red A, Food Red 7 or Acid Red 18. Despite the name Cochineal Red A, it contains nothing from insects or animals. It is one of the Southampton Six colours.
It turns food and drink a bright strawberry red. It mixes evenly into liquids and soft foods and holds its colour in heat, light and acid, though vitamin C can fade it.
Jelly, dessert toppings, fruit-flavoured sweets, soft drinks, seafood dressings, tinned strawberries, fruit pie fillings, packet cake mixes, trifles, cheesecakes, and some salami and Spanish cured sausages. Labels call it E124, Ponceau 4R or Cochineal Red A, and must also say it "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children".
A 2007 trial paid for by the UK Food Standards Agency gave 153 three-year-olds and 144 children aged 8 to 9 either drinks with six artificial colours, including E124, plus sodium benzoate, or a dummy drink. The children were clearly more hyperactive after the coloured drinks. European reviewers said this showed a small effect in some children, but not enough on its own to change the daily limit. The agency then asked makers to drop the six colours, and since 2010 the law has required a warning on any product that uses them.
Children aged 3 and 8 to 9 from the general population were more hyperactive after a mixture of six artificial colours including E124, plus sodium benzoate, than after a dummy drink. Neither the children nor the researchers knew which was which.
Reviewers said the Southampton study gave limited evidence of a small effect on activity and attention in some children, but could not by itself justify changing the daily limit.
In 2009 European reviewers cut the daily limit from 4mg to 0.7mg per kg of body weight. The reason was a long-term mouse study that found kidney inflammation when the dye made up 0.25% of the diet or more. Long-term studies in rats and mice found no cancer. In 2015 reviewers found that children aged 1 to 10, and adults who eat a lot of coloured food, can still go over the lower limit if makers use the most the law allows.
A long-term mouse study found more kidney inflammation when the dye made up 0.25% and 1.25% of the diet. The highest dose with no effect was 70mg per kg of body weight a day. Dividing by 100 as a safety margin gave the new limit of 0.7mg, almost six times lower than the old 4mg.
Children aged 1 to 10 who eat a lot of coloured food, and adults who eat the most, can go over the 0.7mg limit when foods contain the most the law allows. Reviewers called this a possible concern for those groups.
Long-term studies in rats and mice found no sign that it causes cancer, and it did not damage DNA in standard lab tests.
Lab tests and cancer studies have mostly been negative, and European reviewers concluded there is no cancer risk. But a 1993 study in living mice found that a dose of 4mg, which the authors said was near the old daily limit, caused significant chromosome damage in bone marrow cells. The authors said the dye should be taken off the approved list. Reviewers in 2009 accepted the evidence was mixed, but judged that on balance it did not show a risk of cancer or DNA damage at permitted levels.
In male mice, Ponceau 4R caused a significant number of chromosome breaks at a lowest effective dose of 4mg, near the daily limit of the time. The authors recommended removing it from the list of food dyes.
Researchers identified the substances Ponceau 4R breaks down into when light fades it in drinks, and tested whether those could damage DNA in bacteria.
As an azo dye, Ponceau 4R may set off reactions in people who are sensitive to salicylates, the family aspirin belongs to. It is also reported to release histamine in the body, which can make asthma worse in susceptible people. These are not true allergies. They are intolerance reactions, and they can depend on the amount eaten.
As an azo dye, Ponceau 4R may bring on intolerance reactions in people sensitive to salicylates, and can release histamine, which may worsen asthma.
Daily limit. 0.7mg per kg of body weight a day, about 49mg for a 70kg adult. Cut from 4mg in 2009.
Children, especially those prone to hyperactivity or attention problems. People sensitive to aspirin, and people with asthma, may also be more likely to react. Look for E124, Ponceau 4R or Cochineal Red A on the label, and the warning "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children". It is one of the Southampton Six, the six colours that warning covers.
E124 is one of the most tightly controlled food colours in the UK. It must carry a warning label. Its daily limit was cut almost six-fold in 2009 after kidney findings in mice. And in 2015 reviewers found that children eating foods coloured to the legal maximum can go over even the lower limit.
The hyperactivity evidence comes from a randomised trial, the strongest kind of study, though reviewers said it showed an effect in some children, not all. Standard tests for DNA damage have mostly been negative, but one mouse study found chromosome damage near the old limit. This is not a new debate. Regulators have tightened the rules on it step by step, and many UK makers dropped it after 2008.
No. E124 is still approved in England, Scotland and Wales and is on the Food Standards Agency's register of approved additives. It is not approved in the US, and any UK product containing it must carry a warning. Many UK supermarket own-brands dropped it after the agency asked them to in 2008.
The law has required that warning since July 2010 on any food or drink containing E124 or five other artificial colours. It followed a 2007 University of Southampton trial, which found that mixtures of these colours plus sodium benzoate were linked to more hyperactivity in children aged 3 and 8 to 9.
It is approved, but with one of the lowest daily limits of any colour, 0.7mg per kg of body weight, after kidney damage in mice. Children who eat a lot of coloured food can go over that limit. It carries the Southampton hyperactivity warning, and it may set off reactions in people sensitive to aspirin.
Jelly, dessert toppings, fruit-flavoured sweets, soft drinks, seafood dressings, tinned strawberries, fruit pie fillings, packet cake mixes, trifles, cheesecakes, and some salami and cured sausages. UK own-brand products use it less than before 2008, but branded and imported products may still contain it.
Yes. Despite the name Cochineal Red A, Ponceau 4R is entirely man-made and contains nothing from animals. It is not made from insects. That is carmine, E120.
Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
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