also: Beet red · Betanin · Betalains
Beetroot juice concentrate that turns yoghurts, ice cream and sweets pink. It can turn your urine pink too.
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Palm Fat, Sugar, Wheat Flour, Coconut Oil, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins), Colour (Beetroot Red), Flavouring, Salt, Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid)
Beetroot red is a concentrated extract from red beetroot.
630
of the 43,325 UK supermarket foods we checked declare E162 in their ingredients
That is 1.5%, counted by its code or its name.
Counted by NutraSafe from UK supermarket ingredient lists, September 2026. How we counted
Beetroot red is a concentrated extract from red beetroot. Its colour comes from betalain pigments, mostly the red betanin, with a little yellow pigment. It is made by pressing or soaking the root in water, then filtering and concentrating. It dissolves in water, and heat, light and air break it down, which is why it is mostly used in chilled, frozen or short-life foods.
It makes food pink to deep purplish-red. The shade depends on acidity: brighter red in acidic food, turning more blue-violet in less acidic food. Because heat and air break it down, it works best in foods that are not cooked much after it is added.
Flavoured yoghurts, ice cream, jellies and jams, soft drinks, sweets, chewing gum, breakfast cereals, meat alternatives, and some cake fillings and icings. UK labels call it beetroot red, betanin or E162.
When European reviewers looked at E162 in 2015, they found the toxicity studies too limited to set a daily limit. No proper DNA-damage tests had been submitted, and there were no adequate long-term, cancer or reproduction studies. They still concluded it was not a concern at current use, mainly because betanin is already in the diet from eating beetroot and the additive supplies similar amounts.
The toxicity data were not enough to set a daily limit. Whether it damages DNA could not be judged, and there were no adequate long-term, cancer or reproduction studies.
At reported use levels, reviewers did not see beetroot red as a concern, because its pigments are a normal part of the diet with a long history, and intake from the additive is similar to intake from food.
About 10 to 14% of people pass pink or red urine after eating beetroot or food coloured with E162, because some of the pigment passes through undigested. It is more common in people short of iron, and it stopped in iron-deficient patients once they were treated. On its own it tells you the pigment passed through, nothing more.
Pink or red urine after eating beetroot affects about 10 to 14% of people, and is more common in people with iron-deficiency anaemia or poor absorption.
In seven iron-deficient patients, pink urine stopped after 8 days of iron treatment, pointing to how iron status affects the pigment's breakdown.
In a human study, even after large amounts of beetroot juice or whole beetroot, betanin could not be found in the blood at any point. It seems to be broken down in the gut rather than absorbed whole.
Betanin was undetectable in blood after 250ml of beetroot juice (about 194mg betanin) or 300g of whole beetroot (about 66mg betanin).
In lab and animal studies, betanin acts as an antioxidant and dampens inflammation. Because so little reaches the blood in people, it is not established whether this happens at food colour amounts, and good human trials are lacking.
Betanin mopped up free radicals in lab tests and lowered signs of oxidative stress in rats.
Most evidence for betanin's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects comes from lab and animal work, and solid human trials are lacking.
Daily limit. None set. The international committee lists it as not specified. European reviewers (2015) found the data too thin to set one, but did not see a concern at current use.
People with a history of calcium oxalate kidney stones may know beetroot is high in oxalate, though the small amounts used as a colour are not established as a concern. Pink or red urine after eating beetroot-coloured food is usually beeturia, but red urine with no beetroot eaten should be checked by a doctor. Look for beetroot red, betanin or E162.
E162 comes from a vegetable people eat in large amounts, and the additive gives about what a portion of beetroot does. The main caveat is about the paperwork, not its effects: because betanin has a long history in food, the full set of animal and DNA studies needed to set a standard daily limit was never done, and European reviewers flagged that gap in 2015 without changing its approval. It sits in a category defined by the absence of recorded harm rather than by a full safety dossier.
No. Beetroot red is approved in the UK and is on the Food Standards Agency's list, with no set maximum in most foods. It is not allowed in foods made for babies under 12 months.
In 2015 they found the standard studies, on DNA damage, long-term feeding, cancer and reproduction, were missing or too limited to work one out. They did not find evidence of harm. They found a gap in the usual study package, and judged current use not a concern because betanin is part of the diet from beetroot and the additive supplies similar amounts.
Flavoured yoghurts, ice cream, frozen desserts, jellies, soft drinks, sweets, chewing gum, breakfast cereals, meat alternatives, and some cake fillings and icings. Labels call it beetroot red, betanin or E162.
Yes. It comes entirely from beetroot, with nothing from animals.
Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
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