Cochineal / carmine is the color the food industry lists as E120. In our table it is low risk: it takes 6 points off the additive subscore (about 2 of the 100).
- The key finding, from EFSA: ADI confirmed at 5 mg carmine/kg bw/day, equivalent to 2.5 mg carminic acid/kg bw/day; no reason found to revise the 1983 SCF ADI (10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4288)
- No child flag. The class, and the points it costs, are the same for a child of any age.
- Where you meet it. It turns up in 23 of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts, most often in chocolate, yogurts and cakes. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 2 citations from EFSA and the FDA, each one below.
What Cochineal / carmine 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. Cochineal / carmine takes 6 points off the additive subscore (about 2 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.
-
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4288
ADI confirmed at 5 mg carmine/kg bw/day, equivalent to 2.5 mg carminic acid/kg bw/day; no reason found to revise the 1983 SCF ADI. -
FDA
21 CFR 73.100; Federal Register 2009-03-11 (E9-5286), confirmation of effective date
FDA requires cochineal extract and carmine to be declared by their common name on all food labels, in response to reports of severe allergic reactions including anaphylaxis.
Why this class
A credible adverse or precautionary signal that stops short of every Moderate and High criterion: peer-reviewed adverse findings not yet reflected in regulatory status, an exposure exceedance confined to high-percentile or single-event estimates, or a precautionary regulatory step short of those criteria, a reduced ADI, a data limitation noted without an adverse conclusion, a narrowed or conditioned authorisation, or a child-focused assessment or school-food law that covers the additive as part of a class.
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 Cochineal / carmine (E120) safe for kids?
Low risk. In Sito it takes 6 points off the additive subscore (about 2 of the 100). The finding we rely on: ADI confirmed at 5 mg carmine/kg bw/day, equivalent to 2.5 mg carminic acid/kg bw/day; no reason found to revise the 1983 SCF ADI (EFSA, 10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4288).
What is E120?
E120 is the E number for Cochineal / carmine, a color. Open Food Facts tags it en:e120.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E120 in our table, then the closest colors by number.
- Yellow 6 (E110), moderate risk, flagged for young children
- Azorubine / carmoisine (E122), moderate risk, flagged for young children
- Amaranth (E123), high risk
- Ponceau 4R (E124), moderate risk, flagged for young children
- Red 3 (E127), high risk, flagged for young children
- Red 2G (E128), high risk