also: Caustic caramel · Spirit caramel · Caramel colour Class I
Sugar heated until it turns brown, with nothing else added. Used to even out the colour of whisky, cola and gravy. A 2026 French study linked it to more cancer.
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Water, soya sauce extract (23%) (water, soya beans, wheat flour, salt), sugar, salt, distilled cane vinegar, colour (plain caramel), yeast extract powder
A large study following French adults found people who ate more E150a were 15% more likely to develop cancer.
UK supermarket foods that declare E150a: 1,137 of the 43,325 we checked (2.6%)
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. A large study following French adults found people who ate more E150a were 15% more likely to develop cancer. The finding held after a strict statistical correction. This is one observational study.
Plain caramel is made by heating sugars such as sucrose, glucose or fructose without ammonia or sulphites. It is the simplest of the four caramel colours, and the same kind of browning that happens when you cook sugar at home. It is a dark brown liquid or solid with a slightly bitter taste.
It colours food and drink from golden to dark brown. Makers use it to make every batch look the same, and to suggest things like age or roasting.
Cola, stout and dark beer, Scotch whisky and other spirits (where it evens out colour between casks), malt vinegar, brown bread, soy sauce, gravy, biscuits, soups and pet food. UK labels call it caramel colour, plain caramel or E150a. Spirits do not need a full ingredients list in the UK, so E150a in whisky may not be declared.
The NutriNet-Santé study followed 105,260 French adults for more than seven years. People who ate more E150a had a 15% higher risk of cancer overall: 14.0% of the higher consumers developed cancer, against 12.1% of lower or non-consumers. The link held after allowing for smoking, alcohol and diet quality, and after a correction for testing many additives at once.
Among 105,260 adults, higher E150a intake was linked to more cancer overall (HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.25) after correcting for multiple testing. 14.0% of higher consumers developed cancer, against 12.1% of lower or non-consumers.
The international committee gave E150a no numerical daily limit. In 2011 European reviewers set a group limit of 300mg per kg of body weight for all four caramel colours together.
The international committee set no numerical daily limit for E150a in 1985.
Reviewers set a group limit of 300mg per kg of body weight for all four caramel colours.
Heating sugar makes small amounts of 5-HMF, which is also in many cooked foods. At high strengths in lab tests it has caused DNA damage signals. In 2011 European reviewers said intake of 5-HMF from caramel colours needed more assessment, and makers can reduce it.
5-HMF damaged DNA through a reactive breakdown product in some lab tests.
Animal studies found toxic effects of 5-HMF above 75mg per kg of body weight a day.
The NutriNet-Santé study followed 108,723 French adults for about 8 years and tracked the colours in the packaged food they ate. People who ate the most plain caramel (E150a) were 46% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who ate little or none. This is one observational study.
Among 108,723 French adults followed from 2009 to 2023, higher intake of plain caramel as a food colour was linked to a 46% higher risk of type 2 diabetes (hazard ratio 1.46).
Daily limit. 300mg per kg of body weight a day for all four caramel colours together. The international committee set no numerical limit for E150a on its own.
People with wheat or barley allergy should know some E150a is made from glucose syrup from wheat or malt. It is exempt from allergen labelling because the protein is removed, but people with severe grain allergies may want to ask the maker. Whisky may contain E150a without saying so. If that matters to you, look for bottles labelled natural colour or no added colour.
Unlike the ammonia types, it makes no 4-MEI. The 2026 NutriNet-Santé study is the first to link E150a specifically with more cancer in people, and the link survived a strict correction across many additives. It is still one observational study. The research has moved, but it has not settled.
No. E150a is approved in the UK and is on the Food Standards Agency's list, with no set maximum in a wide range of foods.
Earlier concern was mainly about E150c and E150d, which are made with ammonia and can contain 4-MEI, linked to mouse tumours at high doses. E150a uses no ammonia and makes no 4-MEI. But a 2026 French study found people who ate more E150a had 15% more cancer overall.
Cola, dark beer and stout, malt vinegar, gravy and brown sauce, Scotch whisky and many blended spirits, brown bread, biscuits, soups and some sweets. Labels call it caramel colour, plain caramel or E150a. Spirits do not need a full ingredients list, so caramel in whisky may not be declared.
Usually. It is made from plant sugars such as cane, beet, corn or wheat glucose syrup. If cane sugar is used, it may have been refined with bone char, which some strict vegans avoid. Ask the maker if it matters to you.
Last reviewed: 9 November 2026
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