Ingredient · Color

Yellow 5

A synthetic lemon-yellow dye used in soft drinks, sweets, cereals, and condiments. Like other colours it is purely cosmetic, and it is one of the few additives with a recognised, if uncommon, sensitivity reaction.

RiskyHarmfulColorSynthetic

also known as Tartrazine, E102, FD&C Yellow No. 5

Tartrazine is subject to the same EU warning label as Red 40, for the same reason.

It is also one of the additives with a documented hypersensitivity reaction in a small number of people, which is why US labels must declare it by name rather than under a general "artificial colour" heading.

Why it’s classified this way

Classified High risk: cosmetic-only, carries the EU behavioural warning, and has a documented sensitivity subset.

References

  • Southampton study (McCann et al., 2007)
  • EFSA re-evaluation of tartrazine (E102)

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