Lutein is the color the food industry lists as E161b. 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 1 mg/kg bw/day; Tier-3 intake estimates at then-current use levels were above the ADI at the upper end of the range (10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1678)
- 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 moderate risk.
- Where you meet it. It turns up in 25 of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts, most often in sauces, candy and soft drinks. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 2 citations from EFSA, each one below.
What Lutein 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. Lutein takes 6 points off the additive subscore (about 2 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.2010.1678
ADI 1 mg/kg bw/day; Tier-3 intake estimates at then-current use levels were above the ADI at the upper end of the range. -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2589
Revised exposure after corrected industry data: children's mean intake below the ADI, but the ADI exceeded at the 95th/97.5th percentile in the Netherlands and the UK.
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 high. 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 Lutein (E161b) safe for kids?
Low risk. In Sito it takes 6 points off the additive subscore (about 2 of the 100). It is flagged for young children, so for a child under 6 it moves up one class, to moderate risk: 15 points off the additive subscore. The finding we rely on: ADI 1 mg/kg bw/day; Tier-3 intake estimates at then-current use levels were above the ADI at the upper end of the range (EFSA, 10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1678).
What is E161b?
E161b is the E number for Lutein, a color. Open Food Facts tags it en:e161b.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E161b in our table, then the closest colors by number.
- Carotenoids (E160), no risk identified
- Carotenes (E160a), no risk identified
- Annatto (E160b), low risk, flagged for young children
- Paprika extract (E160c), no risk identified
- Beta-apo-8'-carotenal (E160e), low risk, flagged for young children
- Beetroot red (E162), no risk identified
Read next
- The full table: E161b and 252 other additives, 597 citations
- How a low risk additive costs a food 6 of its 100 additive points
- What an E number like E161b 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