What is it?
Red 2G is a water-soluble synthetic azo dye, chemically the disodium salt of 8-acetamido-1-hydroxy-2-phenylazonaphthalene-3,6-disulfonate. It produces a red colour and was manufactured via azo coupling of aniline derivatives.
Red 2G
also: Food Red 10 · Acid Red 1 · Azogeranine · CI 18050
A synthetic red dye banned in the UK and EU since 2007 after regulators found it converts to a probable human carcinogen inside the body.
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E128
Red 2G
In the gut, Red 2G breaks down to aniline, a compound classified as probably carcinogenic to humans by IARC.
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What Red 2G is, what it does and where you will see it
Why it’s worth knowing. In the gut, Red 2G breaks down to aniline, a compound classified as probably carcinogenic to humans by IARC. Aniline also damages red blood cells, affecting the blood's ability to carry oxygen. This additive is no longer legal in UK or EU food, so finding it on a label today would indicate an illegal or mislabelled product.
What does it do?
As a colour additive, it imparted a red hue to processed meat products, compensating for natural colour loss during manufacturing. In the body it is rapidly and extensively metabolised, with aniline as the principal breakdown product. Aniline can bind to haemoglobin, interfere with oxygen transport, and at higher exposures causes splenic and liver toxicity in animal studies.
Where you will see it
It was permitted only in budget-end breakfast sausages (minimum 6% cereal content) and burger meat (minimum 4% vegetable or cereal content) under EU law before the 2007 ban. It was never permitted in confectionery, drinks, or other categories. On a label it would have appeared as 'Red 2G' or 'E128', though no legally sold UK or EU food should carry it today.
What the science says
Breaks down to aniline, a probable human carcinogen
When consumed, Red 2G is rapidly and extensively converted to aniline in the gut. The EFSA panel concluded in 2007 that because aniline should be regarded as a carcinogen, and because a genotoxic mechanism could not be ruled out, Red 2G itself must be treated as a substance of safety concern. IARC reclassified aniline as Group 2A (probably carcinogenic to humans) in 2020, on the basis of strong mechanistic evidence and animal bioassay data.
EFSA concluded that Red 2G is extensively metabolised to aniline, that aniline should be regarded as a carcinogen for which a genotoxic mechanism cannot be excluded, and consequently withdrew the acceptable daily intake that had previously been set for Red 2G.
2007Regulatory reviewEFSA Scientific Panel on Food Additives (AFC), EFSA Journal 515
IARC reclassified aniline from Group 3 (not classifiable) to Group 2A (probably carcinogenic to humans), based on strong mechanistic evidence: aniline shares DNA-reactive metabolite formation, genotoxicity, and target-organ carcinogenicity profiles with established Group 1 aromatic amine carcinogens.
2020Regulatory reviewIARC Monographs Volume 127: Some Aromatic Amines and Related Compounds; summary published in The Lancet Oncology, 25 June 2020
In chronic rodent bioassays, aniline produced fibrosarcomas, sarcomas, and haemangiosarcomas in the spleen and peritoneal cavity of rats, providing the animal-based carcinogenicity signal that informed both the EFSA 2007 opinion and the 2020 IARC upgrade.
2020AnimalIARC Monographs Volume 127 (citing prior animal bioassay data)
Blood toxicity: aniline damages red blood cells
Aniline is a recognised blood toxin. It converts haemoglobin to methaemoglobin, a form that cannot carry oxygen efficiently, and causes the formation of Heinz bodies (damaged protein clumps) inside red blood cells. These haematotoxic effects in the spleen of rats were part of the evidence base EFSA used when withdrawing the ADI in 2007.
Aniline's splenic carcinogenicity in rats is thought to be linked to haematotoxic effects: damaged red blood cells accumulate in the spleen, and aniline metabolites generated or released during the breakdown of those cells may act as local genotoxins.
AnimalGenotoxic Activities of Aniline and its Metabolites and their Relationship to the Carcinogenicity of Aniline in the Spleen of Rats, ResearchGate
EFSA's 2007 opinion noted concerns that Red 2G could interfere with blood haemoglobin as well as cause cancer, citing Heinz body formation and methaemoglobinaemia as known effects of compounds in the amino and nitro group class.
2007Regulatory reviewEFSA Scientific Panel on Food Additives (AFC), EFSA Journal 515
Regulatory ban following safety re-evaluation
Red 2G was banned across the EU by emergency measure in July 2007, immediately after EFSA's opinion. The UK mirrored the suspension by statutory instrument in August 2007. The additive is absent from the current UK FSA approved-additives list and is not listed in the retained EU Regulation 1333/2008 that forms the basis of UK post-Brexit food additive law. Red 2G is also absent from the United States FDA's approved colour additive list and is not on the permitted lists in other major jurisdictions.
Commission Regulation (EC) No 884/2007 suspended use of E128 Red 2G in food across the EU with immediate effect from 28 July 2007, following the EFSA opinion of 5 July 2007.
2007RegulatoryCommission Regulation (EC) No 884/2007, EU Official Journal
The Food (Suspension of the Use of E128 Red 2G as Food Colour) (England) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/2266) brought the EU suspension into UK law, with the suspension coming into force on 2 August 2007.
2007RegulatoryUK Statutory Instrument 2007 No. 2266, legislation.gov.uk
E128 does not appear on the UK Food Standards Agency's current approved-additives list, confirming it remains prohibited in UK food.
RegulatoryUK Food Standards Agency, Approved additives and E numbers (food.gov.uk)
Red 2G does not appear in the FDA's registry of colour additives approved for use in food in the United States.
RegulatoryUS FDA, Regulatory Status of Color Additives (hfpappexternal.fda.gov)
Where it stands with the regulators
Not a permitted food additive in the UK or EU. Banned since July/August 2007.
- Legal basis
- Suspended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 884/2007 (EU) and UK Statutory Instrument 2007 No. 2266 (England), mirrored in Wales (WSI 2007/2288) and Northern Ireland (NISR 2007/352). Not listed in assimilated EU Regulation 1333/2008 (Annex II) as retained in UK law. Absent from the UK FSA approved-additives list.
- Acceptable daily intake (ADI)
- ADI of 0.1 mg/kg bodyweight set by the SCF in 1975. Withdrawn by EFSA in July 2007 following the determination that aniline, the principal metabolite, should be regarded as a carcinogen.
- History
- Red 2G was first evaluated by the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) in 1975, which set an ADI of 0.1 mg/kg. Under EU Parliament and Council Directive 94/36/EC it was permitted in breakfast sausages (minimum 6% cereal) and burger meat (minimum 4% vegetable or cereal content) only. EFSA re-evaluated it in July 2007, withdrew the ADI, and flagged aniline as a probable carcinogen. The European Commission acted by emergency measure (Regulation 884/2007) suspending use from 28 July 2007. UK suspension instruments followed in August 2007. The additive has not been re-authorised and is absent from EU Regulation 1333/2008 and its UK-retained version.
Who should be careful
No one in the UK or EU should be consuming it, as it is banned. If you encounter 'Red 2G' or 'E128' on a label in the UK, the product is likely illegal or mislabelled and should not be purchased. Report it to the Food Standards Agency.
The honest read
The science on Red 2G is not contested or unsettled, it pointed clearly in one direction and regulators acted on it. EFSA's 2007 conclusion that the dye converts to aniline in the gut and that aniline must be regarded as a carcinogen was the basis for an immediate emergency ban. The IARC upgrade of aniline from Group 3 to Group 2A in 2020 reinforced that original concern with stronger mechanistic and animal evidence. There is no body of science arguing for its rehabilitation. The additive is off the market in the UK, EU and US, has not been re-evaluated for reinstatement, and any residual academic debate concerns the precise mechanism of aniline's toxicity, not whether it should be allowed in food.
Common questions about Red 2G
Is E128 banned in the UK?
Yes. Red 2G was banned in the UK from August 2007, following a European Food Safety Authority opinion that it converts to aniline in the body, a compound that should be regarded as a carcinogen. The ban was implemented by Statutory Instrument 2007 No. 2266 in England, with matching instruments for Wales and Northern Ireland. It remains absent from the UK FSA approved-additives list.
Why was Red 2G banned?
EFSA's re-evaluation in July 2007 found that Red 2G is rapidly and extensively converted to aniline inside the gut. Animal studies showed aniline causes tumours in the spleen and other organs, and EFSA concluded a genotoxic mechanism could not be ruled out. EFSA withdrew the acceptable daily intake and the European Commission suspended the additive by emergency regulation within weeks.
What foods contain E128?
Before the 2007 ban, Red 2G was used exclusively in budget breakfast sausages (with at least 6% cereal content) and burger meat (with at least 4% vegetable or cereal content) in the EU and UK. No UK or EU food product sold today should legally contain it.
Is E128 vegan?
Red 2G is a wholly synthetic azo dye, not derived from animal sources, so it is vegan in origin. However, it was used in meat products and is now banned, so the question of vegan suitability is academic.
Sources
- EFSA Scientific Panel opinion on Red 2G (E128), EFSA Journal 515, 2007
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 884/2007 suspending E128 Red 2G, EUR-Lex
- The Food (Suspension of the Use of E128 Red 2G as Food Colour) (England) Regulations 2007, SI 2007/2266
- The Food (Suspension of the Use of E128 Red 2G as Food Colour) (Wales) Regulations 2007, WSI 2007/2288
- The Food (Suspension of the Use of E128 Red 2G as Food Colour) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007, NISR 2007/352
- IARC Monographs Volume 127: Some Aromatic Amines and Related Compounds (aniline Group 2A classification), 2020
- Carcinogenicity of some aromatic amines and related compounds, The Lancet Oncology, 25 June 2020
- IARC Monographs Volume 127 evaluation news, IARC
- UK Food Standards Agency, Approved additives and E numbers
- US FDA, Regulatory Status of Color Additives
- Red 2G, Wikipedia (for chemical structure and global status overview)
- European Commission's hammer falls on Red 2G, Food Navigator, 2007
Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
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