also: Beta-apo-8'-carotenoic acid ethyl ester (C30) · Food orange 7 · Apocarotenoic acid ethyl ester
A synthetic orange-red food colour from the carotenoid family, removed from UK and EU-approved additives in 2011 after the manufacturer stopped producing it.
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No longer a permitted food additive in the UK or EU.
Why it’s worth knowing. No longer a permitted food additive in the UK or EU. Animal studies found effects on the liver, spleen and lymph nodes at higher doses. The international body that sets acceptable daily intakes withdrew its previous safety figure in 2019 because the animal models used were unsuitable for humans, leaving no established intake limit. It is not on the UK list of approved food additives, so you will not normally see this E number on a UK label.
A synthetic carotenoid compound derived from beta-apocarotenal (E160e), producing orange-red to yellow colours. Occurs naturally in small amounts in vegetables, citrus fruits and grass but is commercially synthesised. Shares structural features with beta-carotene and can be partially converted to vitamin A in the body, though with roughly half the provitamin A activity of beta-carotene.
Added to food to give orange, yellow or red hues. Dissolves in fats rather than water, making it suitable for fatty products. More stable to light, heat, acids and alkalis than its close relative beta-apocarotenal (E160e). Also acts as an antioxidant in fatty foods, slowing the rancidity caused by oxidation.
Historically used in processed cheese, margarine and fat-based spreads, soft drinks, dairy desserts, confectionery and egg-yolk-coloured pasta. Now withdrawn from the UK and EU food supply; it remains permitted in animal feed for poultry in the EU under a separate regulatory regime. On a label it would have appeared as 'E160f', 'ethyl ester of beta-apo-8'-carotenoic acid', or 'ethyl beta-apo-8'-carotenate'. You are very unlikely to see it on a UK product today.
Repeated-dose animal studies found effects on the liver, spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes, including lymphoid hyperplasia and granulomas, at doses above a threshold. No effects were seen at or below 3 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, which became the reference point used to set a provisional safety limit for animal feed. No genotoxic activity was detected in standard tests.
Repeat-dose toxicity studies and a two-generation reproduction study in animals showed adverse effects on the liver, spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes at doses above the NOAEL of 3 mg/kg body weight per day.
The substance was devoid of genotoxic potential in standard battery tests.
A 34-week rat study at 500 mg/kg daily found reduced testicular weights and pigment deposits in liver and kidney; a 2-year dietary study at 1% found no adverse effects, though individual study data were limited.
An acceptable daily intake (ADI) for the group of synthetic carotenoids including E160f was set at 0 to 5 mg per kilogram of body weight in 1974, based on rat studies. In 2019 the international food safety body JECFA withdrew this figure entirely, concluding that rats are not a suitable model for carotenoid safety in humans because their gut absorbs these compounds very differently. No new human safety data were submitted, so no replacement ADI could be set.
JECFA withdrew the group ADI of 0-5 mg/kg body weight for synthetic carotenoids including beta-apo-8'-carotenoic acid methyl and ethyl esters, ruling that rat models are not appropriate for carotenoid safety evaluation in humans due to different bioavailability.
E160f was excluded from the EU's approved food additives list in November 2011 under the regulation that consolidated the Union list of permitted additives. The stated reason was that the sole manufacturer had stopped production and industry operators withdrew support for its safety re-evaluation by EFSA. The UK carried over this exclusion after Brexit. E160f is therefore not a permitted food additive in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, or the remaining EU member states.
Commission Regulation (EU) No 1129/2011, recital 13, states that E160f 'is not offered anymore by the manufacturer and re-evaluation of this substance by the Authority is no longer supported by the business operators' and therefore must not be included in the Union list.
E160f does not appear in the UK FSA approved additives and E-numbers guidance or the assimilated Regulation 1333/2008 Annex II as retained in UK law.
This additive is not present in UK or EU food products. If you encounter it on an import or a product made in Australia or New Zealand (where it remains permitted), check the ingredient list for 'E160f', 'ethyl ester of beta-apo-8'-carotenoic acid', or '160f'. No specific population group sensitivity has been established for E160f at food-relevant doses.
E160f disappeared from UK and EU food products when the only manufacturer stopped making it in 2011. The safety picture behind that departure is incomplete rather than clean: the international body that reviews food additive safety withdrew its intake limit in 2019 because the decades-old rat data it relied on are no longer considered valid for carotenoids, and no human data exist to replace them. Animal studies do show organ effects at higher doses. None of this produced an outright safety verdict because no one asked for one once the substance left the market. The science was never fully closed.
E160f is not a permitted food additive in the UK or the EU. It was removed from the EU approved list in November 2011 via Commission Regulation (EU) No 1129/2011 after the manufacturer stopped production and industry withdrew support for its re-evaluation. The UK carried this position over after Brexit. It has not been banned following a safety finding, but it is equally not permitted.
The EU removed it because the sole manufacturer had stopped making it and no business operator agreed to fund the re-evaluation of its safety that EFSA would have required to keep it on the approved list. The stated reason in the regulation (recital 13 of EU No 1129/2011) is commercial discontinuation, not a confirmed safety problem. However, the international food safety body JECFA also withdrew the group acceptable daily intake in 2019 after concluding that the animal studies underpinning it were unsuitable for drawing human safety conclusions.
In the UK and EU, you should not encounter E160f in food today because it is not a permitted food additive. Historically it appeared in processed cheese, margarine, soft drinks, dairy desserts, confectionery and pasta. It remains permitted in animal feed for poultry (to colour egg yolks) under a separate EU regime. Outside the EU, it is permitted in Australia and New Zealand, where it may appear labelled as '160f' without the E prefix.
E160f is synthetically produced from apocarotenal (itself a synthetic carotenoid) and contains no animal-derived ingredients. It is considered suitable for vegans and vegetarians. It is also acceptable under halal and kosher dietary rules. However, since it is no longer used in UK or EU food products, the question is unlikely to arise on any current UK label.
Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
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