Yellow 5, also known as tartrazine or FD&C yellow #5, is a synthetic yellow food dye suspected of being linked to health problems ranging from allergies to hyperactivity in kids to cancer. It is one of several azo food dyes made from petroleum products and among several dyes and food additives studied for potential health impacts.
Yellow #5 adds color to make foods and soft drinks more appealing. It’s also approved for use in pills and other medications, as well as in personal care products such as skin care products, shampoo, and cosmetics. Some textile manufacturers also use azo dyes like tartrazine.
Verywell / Anastasia Tretiak
Other Names for Tartrazine
In all, there are actually more than 100 names for tartrazine that may be found on a product label. Some of these include:
E 102Yellow Lake 69Food Yellow 4Acid Yellow 23
Trisodium
Tartrazine and Health Impacts
Tartrazine has long been suspected of being the cause of several symptoms and health conditions, though not all have been supported by research. Some suspected reactions include:
Is Yellow 5 As Bad As Red 40?
Red 40 is another food color additive suspected of causing health impacts, including allergies and reactions, ADHD, cancer, and other conditions. More research needs to be done on both yellow and red dyes to determine the safe daily intake, if any, and the precise effect these substances have on different populations.
Research on Tartrazine
Tartrazine may be harmful to humans even though the FDA has approved its use in specific products. Yet researchers continue to work to establish a link between yellow #5 and health impacts, including behavioral disorders in children or cancer.
Studies focus on the ways that tartrazine may:
Be toxic to genes (genotoxicity)Be toxic to cells in the body (cytotoxicity)Cause genetic mutations (mutagenicity)
Much of the research on yellow #5 is done through animal studies, and the evidence-based science on its impacts on humans remains lacking. However, the use of azo food dyes has been banned in other places outside the United States.
Where Is Yellow #5 Banned?
Tartrazine is approved by the FDA for use in the United States. In some countries, such as Norway, yellow #5 has been banned in the past, as have other azo food dyes. In 2013, the European Union ruled that “the overall weight of evidence” did not support the finding that yellow #5 was toxic to genes, but the ruling called for further study.
Neurotoxin
Studies done with rats have shown that tartrazine is a neurotoxin (toxic to brain cells). It’s thought that tartrazine affects the nervous system in rats in ways that include problems with spatial memory and more.
Rats given tartrazine showed a number of changes in their central nervous system, including a shortage of brain neurotransmitters and increased cell death. It is not known if these changes also pertain to humans.
Tartrazine Studies in Rats
Tartrazine’s effects in rats are significant, such that other agents have been tested along with yellow #5 to see if they may play a protective role against the damage that tartrazine causes to the nervous system. One study with rats found that administering vitamin E (a neuro-protective agent) might prevent both the structural and behavioral changes caused by tartrazine.
Behavior Problems in Children
Tartrazine’s effects are central to a few studies done in human children to assess behavioral changes.
Research on artificial food colorings (AFC) in children has found that large doses (defined as 50 milligrams or more of AFC) caused a more significant negative effect than on children than those who received less.
Synthetic food dyes have increased by 500% in the past 50 years. Behavioral problems such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have increased at the same time.
Yet many changes have occurred during this time period beyond the adoption of artificial food dyes, and this correlation is not yet definitive.
Carcinogen
One study looking at DNA repair found that tartrazine had no cytotoxic (damaging cells) effects but did have significant genotoxic (damaging DNA) effects at all concentrations studied. This damage could cause genetic mutations leading to cancer.
The study found that most of the damage was amenable to repair but that some damage persisted in specimens exposed to tartrazine, unlike those not exposed, even 24 hours after exposure. The conclusion was that prolonged exposure to tartrazine could trigger carcinogenesis.
It’s important to note that even when DNA is damaged, many repair systems (such as tumor suppressor genes) can fix this damage.
Tartrazine During Pregnancy
Tartrazine and its effects during pregnancy are not well understood. Animal studies of prenatal exposure to artificial food colorings have found some problems, such as a decrease in motivation and anxiety in the offspring of rats exposed during pregnancy.
Research on tartrazine in pregnant rats also suggests evidence of DNA-related conditions, including:
Liver damage
Kidney damage
Cardiomegaly (enlarged heart size)
Missing limbs and other skeletal deformities
Research findings in pregnant animals do not mean that there is a potential for problems in human infants. What these animal studies suggest, however, is that further research is needed until more is known.
How to Avoid Tartrazine
Tartrazine is found in several foods. While many products are labeled, others, such as ice cream and desserts, may not be.
Foods containing tartrazine include certain brands/types of:
Breakfast cerealsRefrigerated rolls and quick breadsCake mixesCommercial piesCommercial gingerbreadButterscotch chipsCommercial frostingsInstant and regular puddingsIce creams and sherbetsCandy coatingsHard candiesColored marshmallowsFlavored carbonated beveragesFlavored drink mixes
Tartrazine is also used in several other products. They include:
Cosmetics and fragrancesHair care products, including dyeHand soaps, creams, and lotionsShaving productsPet care products
It can be difficult to ensure that the food you eat does not contain tartrazine since there are so many possible names for it on food labels. If it is essential for you, contact a healthcare provider for more information about avoiding it.
Summary
Tartrazine is approved for use in the U.S. and can be found in several food and personal care products. While some studies suggest it may have health effects on animals and humans, more research is needed. Ask your healthcare provider for more information if you have concerns about yellow #5 dyes and food colorings.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Brüschweiler BJ, Merlot C. Azo dyes in clothing textiles can be cleaved into a series of mutagenic aromatic amines which are not regulated yet. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2017 Aug;88:214-226. doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2017.06.012.
Contact Dermatitis Institute. Tartrazine.
Sadowska B, Gawinowska M, Sztormowska M, Chełmińska M. Hypersensitivity of azo dyes in urticaria patients based on a single-blind, placebo-controlled oral challenge. Postepy Dermatol Alergol. 2022;39(5):877-879. doi:10.5114/ada.2021.110263
Miller MD, Steinmaus C, Golub MS, et al. Potential impacts of synthetic food dyes on activity and attention in children: a review of the human and animal evidence. Environ Health. 2022;21:45. doi:10.1186/s12940-022-00849-9
Soares BM, Araújo TM, Ramos JA, Pinto LC, Khayat BM, De Oliveira Bahia M, et al. Effects on DNA repair in human lymphocytes exposed to the food dye tartrazine yellow. Anticancer Res. 2015 Mar;35(3):1465-74. PMID: 25750299.
European Food Safety Authority. Food colours.
Mohamed AA, Galal AA, Elewa YH. Comparative protective effects of royal jelly and cod liver oil against neurotoxic impact of tartrazine on male rat pups brain. Acta Histochem. 2015 Sep;117(7):649-58. doi:10.1016/j.acthis.2015.07.002
Rafati A, Nourzei N, Karbalay-Doust S, Noorafshan A. Using vitamin E to prevent the impairment in behavioral test, cell loss and dendrite changes in medial prefrontal cortex induced by tartrazine in rats. Acta Histochem. 2017 Mar;119(2):172-180. doi:10.1016/j.acthis.2017.01.004
Miller MD, Steinmaus C, Golub MS, et al. Potential impacts of synthetic food dyes on activity and attention in children: a review of the human and animal evidence. Environ Health. 2022;21:45. doi:10.1186/s12940-022-00849-9
Doguc DK, Aylak F, Ilhan I, Kulac E, Gultekin F. Are there any remarkable effects of prenatal exposure to food colourings on neurobehavior and learning process in rat offspring? Nutritional Neuroscience. 2015. 18(1):12-21. doi:10.1179/1476830513Y.0000000095
Sambu S, Hemaram U, Murugan R, Alsofi AA. Toxicological and Teratogenic Effect of Various Food Additives: An Updated Review. Biomed Res Int. 2022 Jun 24;2022:6829409. doi:10.1155/2022/6829409.
Additional Reading
Tattersall I, Reddy B. Fixed drug eruption due to achiote dye. Case Reports in Dermatology. 2016. 8(1):14-8. doi:10.1159/000443949
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/DanielMoreMD-c1a5474a09454b938faec1969be46535.png)
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?
Other
Helpful
Report an Error
