Vegetable carbon is the color the food industry lists as E153. 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: Toxicological database on vegetable carbon is sparse; no ADI could be derived; data gaps identified on impurities and particle characterisation (10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2592)
- 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 3 of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts, most often in candy. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 3 citations from EFSA, each one below.
What Vegetable carbon 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. Vegetable carbon 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.
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EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2592
Toxicological database on vegetable carbon is sparse; no ADI could be derived; data gaps identified on impurities and particle characterisation. -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2026.9855
2026 opinion: still no ADI; benzo[a]pyrene and PAH4 margins of exposure all above 10,000 (no concern), but E153 contains a fraction of small particles including nanoparticles and the submitted characterisation was inadequate - the 2012 assessment should be complemented with nanoscale considerations. -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2026.9855
Toddlers showed the highest exposure estimates across surveys: mean 2.5-29.5 mg/kg bw/day, 95th percentile 11.7-64.3 mg/kg bw/day.
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 Vegetable carbon (E153) 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: Toxicological database on vegetable carbon is sparse; no ADI could be derived; data gaps identified on impurities and particle characterisation (EFSA, 10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2592).
What is E153?
E153 is the E number for Vegetable carbon, a color. Open Food Facts tags it en:e153.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E153 in our table, then the closest colors by number.
- Caramel (E150), moderate 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
- Brilliant Black BN (E151), no risk identified
- Brown HT (E155), low risk, flagged for young children