Amaranth is the color the food industry lists as E123. In our table it is high risk: it takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100).
- The key finding, from the FDA: Amaranth has been banned as a food colour in the United States since 1976; it is not a certified colour additive for US food (FDA Color Additive Status List, FD&C Red No. 2 (amaranth), terminated for US food use in 1976)
- No child flag. The class, and the points it costs, are the same for a child of any age.
- Where you meet it. None of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts list it. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 2 citations from the FDA and EFSA, each one below.
What Amaranth does to a score
A packaged food's additive subscore starts at 100 and loses points for each additive on the label; that subscore is a third of the final score. Amaranth takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100). Scan the pack in Sito and the score you get is the one for your own child's age, with this additive named in the reasons. How we score has the whole method.
See what is in your own cupboard
Scan a packaged food and Sito names the additives in it, then scores the product out of 100 for your child's age.
What the sources found
Every classification in our table comes from the citations below, and nothing else. Each finding is our one-line summary of what the source concluded, with the source and reference beside it.
-
FDA
Color Additive Status List - FD&C Red No. 2 (amaranth), terminated for US food use in 1976
Amaranth has been banned as a food colour in the United States since 1976; it is not a certified colour additive for US food. -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1649
ADI lowered to 0.15 mg/kg bw/day (from SCF 0-0.8 and JECFA 0-0.5); the Panel concluded amaranth is neither genotoxic nor carcinogenic.
Why this class
IARC Group 1 or 2A with a dietary exposure route; or EFSA has withdrawn or negated a safety conclusion; or EFSA’s own exposure assessment finds a child age group exceeding the ADI at mean intake; or the substance is banned or formally being phased out for food use by the EU, by the US FDA, or under a US state law.
Our confidence in this row's classification is medium. Medium or low does not mean the evidence is weak; it means something about the row is still being pinned down, usually a regulatory status confirmed from one source rather than two.
Questions parents ask
Is Amaranth (E123) safe for kids?
High risk. In Sito it takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100). The finding we rely on: Amaranth has been banned as a food colour in the United States since 1976; it is not a certified colour additive for US food (FDA Color Additive Status List, FD&C Red No. 2 (amaranth), terminated for US food use in 1976).
What is E123?
E123 is the E number for Amaranth, a color. Open Food Facts tags it en:e123.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E123 in our table, then the closest colors by number.
- Cochineal / carmine (E120), low risk
- Azorubine / carmoisine (E122), moderate risk, flagged for young children
- Ponceau 4R (E124), moderate risk, flagged for young children
- Red 3 (E127), high risk, flagged for young children
- Red 2G (E128), high risk
- Red 40 (E129), moderate risk, flagged for young children