Many colorings that are legal for use in foods in one
country are banned in another; conversely, those dyes allowed
in the latter country may be banned in the former. In the
US, the list of legal synthetic food dyes is short:
dye name
F D & C food dye
number
Colour Index Name
Colour Index number
European additive number
chemical class
allura red
red dye #40
food red 17
16035
E129
monoazo
brilliant blue FCF
blue #1
acid blue 9; food blue 2
42090
E133
triarylmethane
sunset yellow FCF
yellow #6
acid yellow 6; food yellow 3
15985
E110
monoazo
indigotine or indigo carmine
blue #2
food blue 1
73015
E132
fast green FCF
green#3
food green 3
42053
INS 143
triarylmethane
erythrosine
red #3
acid red 51; food red 14
45430
E127
xanthene
tartrazine
yellow #5
acid yellow 23; food yellow 4
19140
E102
monoazo
All other food colorings in the US, aside from a few natural
dyes such as annatto, turmeric (spice), beet extract, and
carmine (red insects, used to color yogurt and other foods),
are composed of different combinations of the above.
brands of food dyes
Food dye may be purchased in several forms. Many grocery
stores in the US sell little sets of four bottles of food
coloring; these are not ideal for color mixing, as the blue
is too greenish and the red too orangish for it to be
possible to mix a good purple. However, they are very
readily available.
More colors may be obtained in the form
of cake coloring, such as in
Wilton cake decorating colors.
KoolAid and similar drink mix products are also good
sources of some of the artificial food colors, complete with citric
acid to serve as the acid (be sure not to get the kind with
sugar added!); see How can I tie dye
with Kool-aid or food coloring?
The best all-around source I've seen for food dyes may be The Coloration
Station. In addition to the food colorings, the
Coloration Station also sells
dyes that are safe for use on the
skin - D&C colors - so they must be safe for use in dyeing, although they
are not considered safe to eat. Note that the "lake" colors are insoluble; you
want the non-lake colors, for most dyeing purposes.
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