Carmoisine
E122
E122, INS 122, carmoisine, azorubine
What it is
Carmoisine (E122 / INS 122), also called azorubine, is a synthetic red food colour.
Why BOTIA flags it
Carmoisine is a synthetic red colour that the gut breaks down into other substances, which are also considered in its safety assessment. In the EU, foods containing it must carry a warning that it may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children — a warning that comes from studies using mixtures of several colours with sodium benzoate, not Carmoisine on its own. Carmoisine is not authorised for use in food in the United States. JECFA set an ADI of 0–4 mg/kg body weight per day.
BOTIA CAN
- Detect E122, INS 122, Carmoisine and Azorubine when they are declared in the ingredient list.
- Explain the EU activity-and-attention warning, its Southampton-study origin, the fact that mixtures rather than Carmoisine alone were tested, and its different status in the United States.
BOTIA CANNOT
- Determine how much Carmoisine is present in a product from the ingredient list.
- Predict whether a particular child will show an effect or treat the Southampton mixture study as proof of an effect caused by Carmoisine alone.