Cochineal in food explained, with US, EU and UK label rules

Cochineal in food and the rules for carmine labels

Cochineal in food is a red colour made from the dried female scale insect Dactylopius coccus Costa (Regulation 231/2012). It is allowed, with conditions, in the US (21 CFR 73.100), the EU (Regulation 1333/2008) and Great Britain (FSA register). US ingredient lists must name it "cochineal extract" or "carmine".

What carmine and cochineal extract are

The colour comes chiefly from carminic acid. Section 73.100 defines two forms. Cochineal extract is the concentrated solution left after the alcohol is removed from an aqueous-alcoholic extract of the insect. Carmine is the aluminium or calcium-aluminium lake of the colouring principles from an aqueous extraction of cochineal, on an aluminium hydroxide substrate. Both must be pasteurised or otherwise treated to destroy all viable Salmonella.

If you have searched for red bugs in food, this is the insect, and carmine is what that red dye is made of. The EU specification gives the synonym CI Natural Red 4 (Colour Index 75470). Commercial products may also contain protein from the source insect.

Is cochineal allowed in food in the US?

Yes. Section 73.100 lets cochineal extract and carmine colour "foods generally in amounts consistent with good manufacturing practice," and both are exempt from batch certification. A standardised food can contain either form only if its standard of identity allows added colour.

FDA's Color Additive Status List, updated 14 August 2026, shows carmine and cochineal extract as permanently listed. But plain "Cochineal", the raw dried insect, is delisted.

The US label rule for cochineal extract and carmine

Since 5 January 2011, 73.100(d)(2) requires human foods, "including butter, cheese, and ice cream", to declare "cochineal extract" or "carmine" in the ingredient list. The 2009 final rule responded to "reports of severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis."

Most exempt colours can appear as "Color Added" or "Artificial Color". 21 CFR 101.22(k)(2) allows that only when Part 73 doesn't require the name. Here it does. "Natural red" and "natural color" fail too. Use "cochineal extract" for the extract and "carmine" for the lake.

Section 101.22(k)(3) normally lets colours in butter, cheese and ice cream go undeclared. Section 73.100 overrides that for these two.

FDA said in the same rule that these colours aren't FALCPA major food allergens. The name goes in the ingredient list, not in a "Contains" statement. FDA also declined to require "insect-derived" or "animal-derived" wording.

Cochineal colouring in the EU and UK

In the EU the legal name is E 120, "Carminic acid, Carmine". Regulation 2018/1472 dropped "Cochineal" from that name from 23 October 2019. Regulation 1333/2008 allows E 120 only in listed food categories, on the conditions for that entry.

Examples include confectionery, sauces, flavoured drinks, sausages and red marbled cheese. E 120 is a Group III colour. A Group III maximum covers every Group III colour in the food, counted together, not E 120 on its own: for example 300 mg/kg in confectionery and 100 mg/l in flavoured drinks. Some entries also cap aluminium from carmine lakes. Check that category and its footnotes before you sign off a recipe.

E 120 does not need the children's activity warning that Annex V requires for six other colours. Great Britain's list has the same six colours, and E 120 is not on it. Don't confuse E 120 with E 124, "Ponceau 4R, Cochineal Red A", a synthetic azo colour that does carry the warning.

On the label, Regulation 1169/2011 Annex VII Part C requires the category, then the specific name or E number. Use "Colour: carmine" or "Colour: E120". Don't use "cochineal" as the EU specific name. It isn't an EU listed allergen. If carmine is present only because an ingredient brought it in, and it has no technological function in the finished food, it need not be listed. Great Britain has the same carry-over rule.

Great Britain also requires the category name plus the specific name or E number (GB Annex VII Part C). The FSA register shows E 120 "Carminic acid, Carmine" authorised in England, Scotland and Wales. The FSA's E number list, published 25 June 2026, still shows the older "Cochineal; Carminic acid; Carmines". "Carmine" or "E120" avoids that mismatch. That page says Northern Ireland follows EU Regulation 1333/2008.

Safety

EFSA's 2015 re-evaluation kept the acceptable daily intake at 5 mg carmine (2.5 mg carminic acid) per kg body weight per day. It is not genotoxic. EFSA could not set a threshold for allergic reactions, advised avoiding the insect proteins, and recommended purification in manufacture.

RegAffairs AI's answer to "Is cochineal allowed in food?" cites the US, EU and GB texts behind each rule.