Caramel is the color the food industry lists as E150. In our table it is moderate risk: it takes 15 points off the additive subscore, a third of a product's score (about 5 of the 100).
- The key finding, from EFSA: Group ADI 300 mg/kg bw/day for E 150a-d; E 150c given a lower individual ADI of 100 mg/kg bw/day because of possible immune effects of its constituent THI. SUPERSEDED IN PART: this opinion's finding that combined MEAN intake for children exceeds the group ADI at maximum reported use levels is superseded by the 2012 refined assessment below (refined combined means 12-105 mg/kg bw/day, all below the 300 group ADI). The 2011 mean exceedance is therefore not a current finding: EFSA itself has refined away the evidence behind it, and it supports no High-risk basis (10.2903/j.efsa.2011.2004)
- Flagged for young children. Set only where EFSA’s own exposure assessment shows toddlers or children exceeding or approaching the ADI, or where a regulator used explicitly child-specific language. For a child under 6 it moves up one class, to high risk.
- Where you meet it. It turns up in 23 of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts, most often in sauces, soft drinks and yogurts. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 3 citations from EFSA and OEHHA, each one below.
What Caramel 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. Caramel takes 15 points off the additive subscore, a third of a product's score (about 5 of the 100), and a child under 6 sees it one class higher again. 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.
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EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2011.2004
Group ADI 300 mg/kg bw/day for E 150a-d; E 150c given a lower individual ADI of 100 mg/kg bw/day because of possible immune effects of its constituent THI. SUPERSEDED IN PART: this opinion's finding that combined MEAN intake for children exceeds the group ADI at maximum reported use levels is superseded by the 2012 refined assessment below (refined combined means 12-105 mg/kg bw/day, all below the 300 group ADI). The 2011 mean exceedance is therefore not a current finding: EFSA itself has refined away the evidence behind it, and it supports no High-risk basis. -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2012.3030
Refined exposure assessment. E 150c: toddlers (and adults) may still exceed the INDIVIDUAL ADI of 100 mg/kg bw/day at the upper end of 95th-percentile exposure — the sole basis for this row's higher-concern-for-young-children flag. E 150d: NO exceedance — toddler 95th-percentile exposure reaches at most 136 mg/kg bw/day against the group ADI of 300. 'The combined exposure estimates of the four caramel colours do not exceed the group ADI for any population group.' -
OEHHA
Prop 65, 4-methylimidazole (listed 2011), NSRL 29 ug/day
4-MEI in ammonia/sulphite-ammonia caramels is Prop 65 listed.
Why this class
IARC Group 2B; or an EFSA re-evaluation that flagged genotoxicity data gaps, found safety could not be assessed on the available data, or cut the ADI citing child exposure; or an EU harmonised classification of the substance as a reproductive or developmental hazard; or an EU withdrawal of one authorised food use while others remain; or an OEHHA/Proposition 65 listing; or membership of the Southampton-six colourants.
Our confidence in this row's classification is low. 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 Caramel (E150) safe for kids?
Moderate risk. In Sito it takes 15 points off the additive subscore, a third of a product's score (about 5 of the 100). It is flagged for young children, so for a child under 6 it moves up one class, to high risk: 30 points off the additive subscore. The finding we rely on: Group ADI 300 mg/kg bw/day for E 150a-d; E 150c given a lower individual ADI of 100 mg/kg bw/day because of possible immune effects of its constituent THI. SUPERSEDED IN PART: this opinion's finding that combined MEAN intake for children exceeds the group ADI at maximum reported use levels is superseded by the 2012 refined assessment below (refined combined means 12-105 mg/kg bw/day, all below the 300 group ADI). The 2011 mean exceedance is therefore not a current finding: EFSA itself has refined away the evidence behind it, and it supports no High-risk basis (EFSA, 10.2903/j.efsa.2011.2004).
What is E150?
E150 covers Caramel as a group, a color. Our table also lists its forms one by one: E150a, E150b, E150c and E150d. Open Food Facts tags it en:e150.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E150 in our table, then the closest colors by number.
- Green 3 (E143), low risk, flagged for young children
- Plain caramel (E150a), no risk identified
- Caustic sulphite caramel (E150b), no risk identified
- Ammonia caramel (E150c), moderate risk, flagged for young children
- Sulphite ammonia caramel (E150d), moderate risk
- Brilliant Black BN (E151), no risk identified
Read next
- The full table: E150 and 252 other additives, 597 citations
- How a moderate risk additive costs a food 15 of its 100 additive points
- What an E number like E150 means, and who approves it
- Our study of 3,000 products: the flagged additive parents meet most is not a dye
- Red 40, also flagged for young children: what the rules say