also: Paprika oleoresin · Capsanthin · Capsorubin · Capsicum extract
Red pepper extract that gives crisps, sausages and sauces their orange-red colour. It can affect people allergic to peppers, and it is not a labelled allergen.
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Salt, Paprika, Coriander, Flavour Enhancer (E621), Mustard, Rice Flour, Onion Powder, Celery, Anti-Caking Agent (E551), Pimento, Colour (E160c), Chilli Extract
Paprika extract, also sold as paprika oleoresin, is a concentrate from dried ripe sweet red peppers.
3,563
of the 43,325 UK supermarket foods we checked declare E160c in their ingredients
That is 8.2%, counted by its code or its name.
Counted by NutraSafe from UK supermarket ingredient lists, September 2026. How we counted
Paprika extract, also sold as paprika oleoresin, is a concentrate from dried ripe sweet red peppers. Its colour comes from two pigments, capsanthin and capsorubin. It typically holds about 7% of these colouring compounds. It has very little of the compound that makes chillies hot, and the body does not turn its pigments into vitamin A. It is extracted with food-grade solvents, which are then removed.
Its pigments dissolve in fat and give a steady warm red to orange colour, spreading evenly through foods that contain animal or vegetable fat. It also adds a slight pepper flavour. Makers use it in place of man-made dyes when they want to say a product uses natural colours. Long exposure to heat and light can fade it.
Flavoured crisps and snacks, sausages and cured meats, cheese spreads, soups, sauces, salad dressings, fish fingers, ready meals and some baking. It is also fed to hens to deepen yolk colour. UK labels call it paprika extract, paprika oleoresin, capsanthin, capsorubin or E160c.
European reviewers looked at paprika extract in 2015, including a 13-week study and a long-term cancer study in rats. They found no DNA damage, no effects on reproduction and no cancer at any dose tested, and set a daily limit of 24mg per kg of body weight. The international committee set a lower limit, measured differently.
Reviewers found no DNA damage in bacterial and mammalian cell tests on a commercial paprika extract.
A long-term study in rats found no cancer. Reviewers set a daily limit of 24mg per kg of body weight, equal to 1.7mg of carotenoids per kg.
The international committee set a daily limit of up to 1.5mg per kg of body weight, measured as total carotenoids, a more cautious figure than the European one.
Paprika extract comes from sweet peppers, and people truly allergic to peppers or paprika can react to it. Case reports describe hives, hay fever symptoms and anaphylaxis after eating paprika-containing food. Pepper allergens can also cross-react with latex and some pollens. Pepper allergy is uncommon, but breathing in spice dust is a known cause of allergy in food workers.
Case reports describe anaphylaxis after eating paprika, with positive skin tests and antibodies to sweet pepper proteins.
Bell pepper shares allergens with latex, which contributes to latex-fruit syndrome in people allergic to latex.
In lab and cell studies, capsanthin and capsorubin act as antioxidants, and some animal work hints at potential benefits. These come from isolated cells and animals, not people, and the amount in a food colour is very small. No health claim can be made from this.
Capsanthin and capsorubin showed stronger antioxidant activity than beta-carotene in lab tests.
Daily limit. 24mg per kg of body weight a day (European reviewers, 2015). The international committee set 1.5mg of carotenoids per kg (2014).
People allergic to peppers or paprika should check labels for paprika extract, paprika oleoresin, capsanthin, capsorubin or E160c. People with latex allergy may want to be careful, because pepper and latex allergens can cross-react. Paprika is not one of the 14 allergens UK law requires to be highlighted, so it will not be in bold.
Paprika extract comes from the same pepper sold as a spice and eaten in salads around the world. The 2015 European review, which included long-term cancer and DNA studies, set a daily limit well above what a food colour supplies. The real-world issue is allergy: a small number of people are allergic to peppers and can react to food coloured with it, and because paprika is not a labelled allergen they have to read the full ingredients list. It is not an additive under active scientific dispute.
No. Paprika extract is approved in the UK and is on the Food Standards Agency's list.
Yes, in people allergic to peppers or paprika. Case reports describe hives, hay fever symptoms and anaphylaxis. Paprika is not one of the 14 allergens that must be highlighted on UK labels, so check the full ingredients for paprika extract, paprika oleoresin, capsanthin, capsorubin or E160c.
Flavoured crisps and snacks, sausages and cured meats, cheese spreads, soups, sauces, salad dressings, fish fingers and some baking. Labels call it paprika extract, paprika oleoresin or E160c.
Yes. It comes only from red peppers, with nothing from animals.
Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
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