Tartrazine

Tartrazine (E102) is a synthetic azo dye widely used to produce yellow shades in foods and beverages including soft drinks, confectionery, soups, sauces, and certain bakery products. First synthesised in the late 19th century, it became one of the most commonly used yellow food colours globally due to its stability, water solubility, and cost-effectiveness. It is chemically a trisodium salt containing both azo and pyrazole groups, identifiable by its distinctive lemon-yellow hue.

Both JECFA and EFSA have established an ADI of 7.5 mg per kg body weight per day for tartrazine — JECFA most recently in 2018, with the same value confirmed in the EFSA OpenFoodTox 3.0 database. For a 60 kg adult this corresponds to a daily tolerable intake of 450 mg from all food sources. Both bodies concluded that tartrazine is safe at levels below the ADI for the general population, though it has been among the more carefully reviewed colourants due to persistent regulatory scrutiny.

Tartrazine is subject to mandatory warning label requirements in the EU under Regulation (EC) 1333/2008 Annex V: "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children." This follows a 2007 study by McCann et al. (The Lancet) linking a mixture of azo food colours — including tartrazine — with increased hyperactivity in children. The additive remains permitted in the EU, United States, Japan, and South Korea. Consumers managing attention disorders in children may wish to consider products that avoid azo colourants.