Brown HT

Brown HT is a synthetic azo dye used to give food a brown colour. It appears in products such as chocolate-flavoured cakes, biscuits, and some savoury snacks. The HT designation stands for high temperature, reflecting its stability during baking — a property that makes it useful in applications where other dyes would degrade in the oven.

JECFA evaluated Brown HT in 1969. No specific numeric ADI is recorded in our current data. Like other azo dyes, it is metabolised in part through gut bacterial reduction to aromatic amines, and its safety at typical exposure continues to be reviewed by regulatory bodies.

Brown HT is not permitted in the United States, Canada, Japan, or Australia. It is approved in the EU under Regulation 1333/2008 but is included among the six Southampton dyes: products containing it must display the warning may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children. Consumers wishing to minimise synthetic dye intake can identify it as E155 on ingredient labels. Natural brown colours such as caramel (E150) are widely used as alternatives.