Annatto extracts, bixin-based

INS 160b(i)

Used as a colour.

Bixin is the oil-soluble form of annatto, an orange-yellow colour from the seed coat of the achiote tree. It is the colour of many hard cheeses, including Red Leicester and some cheddars, and of butter and margarine.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Annatto extracts, bixin-based by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationNot listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

75 food categories

highest permitted level 10,000 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.1.4 Flavoured Fluid Milk Drinks — 20 mg/kg
  • 01.3.2 Beverage whiteners — 50 mg/kg
  • 01.4.4 Cream analogues — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.5.2 Milk and cream powder analogues — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2.2 Rind of ripened cheese — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2.3 Cheese powder (for reconstitution; e.g. for cheese sauces) — 50 mg/kg
  • 01.6.4.1 Plain processed cheese — 60 mg/kg
  • 01.6.4.2 Flavoured processed cheese, including containing fruit, vegetables, meat, etc. — 15 mg/kg
  • 01.6.5 Cheese analogues — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.7 Dairy-based desserts (e.g. pudding, fruit or flavoured yoghurt) — 100 mg/kg
  • 02.1.1 Butter oil, anhydrous milkfat, ghee — 100 mg/kg
  • 02.1.2 Vegetable oils and fats — 10 mg/kg
  • 02.1.3 Lard, tallow, fish oil, and other animal fats — 10 mg/kg
  • 02.2.1 Butter — 20 mg/kg
  • 02.2.2 Fat spreads, dairy fat spreads and blended spreads — 100 mg/kg
  • 02.3 Fat emulsions mainly of type oil-in-water, including mixed and/or flavoured products based on fat emulsions — 25 mg/kg
  • 02.4 Fat-based desserts excluding dairy-based dessert products of food category 01.7 — 15 mg/kg
  • 03.0 Edible ices, including sherbet and sorbet — 20 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.11 Fruit fillings for pastries — 50 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.5 — 20 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.6 Fruit-based spreads (e.g. chutney) excluding products of food category — 20 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.7 Candied fruit — 20 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.8 Fruit preparations, including pulp, purees, fruit toppings and coconut milk — 100 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.9 Fruit-based desserts, incl. fruit-flavoured water-based desserts — 30 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.3 Vegetables (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), and seaweeds in vinegar, oil, brine, or soybean sauce — 10 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.5 Vegetable (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweed, and nut and seed purees and spreads (e.g. peanut butter) — 20 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.6 Vegetable (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweed, and nut and seed pulps and preparations (e.g. vegetable desserts and sauces, candied vegetables) other than food category 04.2.2.5 — 10 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.7 Fermented vegetable (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera) and seaweed products, excluding fermented soybean products of food categories 06.8.6, 06.8.7, 12.9.1, — 10 mg/kg
  • 05.1.3 Cocoa-based spreads, incl. fillings — 50 mg/kg
  • 05.1.4 Cocoa and chocolate products — 50 mg/kg
  • 05.1.5 Imitation chocolate, chocolate substitute products — 50 mg/kg
  • 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4 — 200 mg/kg
  • 05.3 Chewing gum — 300 mg/kg
  • 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces — 80 mg/kg
  • 06.3 Breakfast cereals, including rolled oats — 75 mg/kg
  • 06.4.2 Dried pastas and noodles and like products — 10 mg/kg
  • 06.4.3 Pre-cooked pastas and noodles and like products — 20 mg/kg
  • 06.5 Cereal and starch based desserts (e.g. rice pudding, tapioca pudding) — 10 mg/kg
  • 06.6 Batters (e.g. for breading or batters for fish or poultry) — 80 mg/kg
  • 06.8.1 Soybean-based beverages — 10 mg/kg
  • 07.1.2 Crackers, excluding sweet crackers — 100 mg/kg
  • 07.1.4 Bread-type products, including bread stuffing and bread crumbs — 200 mg/kg
  • 07.1.5 Steamed breads and buns — 200 mg/kg
  • 07.1.6 Mixes for bread and ordinary bakery wares — 200 mg/kg
  • 07.2 Fine bakery wares (sweet, salty, savoury) and mixes — 100 mg/kg
  • 08.1.2 Fresh meat, poultry and game, comminuted — 20 mg/kg
  • 08.2.2 Heat-treated processed meat, poultry, and game products in whole pieces or cuts — 20 mg/kg
  • 08.3.1.1 Cured (including salted) non-heat treated processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products — 100 mg/kg
  • 08.3.1.2 Cured (including salted) and dried non-heat treated processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products — 100 mg/kg
  • 08.3.1.3 Fermented non-heat treated processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products — 100 mg/kg
  • 08.3.2 Heat-treated processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products — 100 mg/kg
  • 08.3.3 Frozen processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products — 20 mg/kg
  • 08.4 Edible casings (e.g. sausage casings) — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 09.2.2 Frozen battered fish, fish fillets and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 80 mg/kg
  • 09.2.4.1 Cooked fish and fish products — 30 mg/kg
  • 09.2.5 Smoked, dried, fermented, and/or salted fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 10 mg/kg
  • 09.3.1 Fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms, marinated and/or in jelly — 10 mg/kg
  • 09.3.3 Salmon substitutes, caviar and other fish roe products — 10 mg/kg
  • 09.3.4 Semi-preserved fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans and echinoderms (e.g. fish paste), excluding products of food categories 09.3.1 - 09.3.3 — 10 mg/kg
  • 12.2.2 Seasonings and condiments — 600 mg/kg
  • 12.4 Mustards — 100 mg/kg
  • 12.5 Soups and broths — 50 mg/kg
  • 12.6.1 Emulsified sauces and dips (e.g. mayonnaise, salad dressing, onion dips) — 30 mg/kg
  • 12.6.2 Non-emulsified sauces (e.g. ketchup, cheese sauce, cream sauce, brown gravy) — 100 mg/kg
  • 12.6.3 Mixes for sauces and gravies — 100 mg/kg
  • 12.6.4 Clear sauces (e.g. fish sauce) — 400 mg/kg
  • 12.7 Salads (e.g. macaroni salad, potato salad) and sandwich spreads excluding cocoa-and nut-based spreads of food categories 04.2.2.5 and 05.1.3 — 10 mg/kg
  • 13.3 Dietetic foods intended for special medical purposes (excluding products of food category 13.1) — 50 mg/kg
  • 13.6 Food supplements — 200 mg/kg
  • 14.1.4 Water-based flavoured drinks, including "sport," “energy,” or "electrolyte" drinks and particulated drinks — 30 mg/kg
  • 14.2.4 Wines (other than grape) — 20 mg/kg
  • 14.2.6 Distilled spirituous beverages containing more than 15% alcohol — 30 mg/kg
  • 14.2.7 Aromatized alcoholic beverages (e.g. beer, wine and spirituous cooler-type beverages, low-alcoholic refreshers) — 30 mg/kg
  • 15.1 Snacks - potato, cereal, flour or starch based (from roots and tubers, pulses and legumes) — 20 mg/kg
  • 15.2 Processed nuts, including coated nuts and nut mixtures (with e.g. dried fruit) — 10 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 160b(i)and 74 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Extracted from the seed coat of Bixa orellana using vegetable oil or an organic solvent. Bixin is fat-soluble, which is why this form is used for fatty foods; the water-soluble norbixin form is listed separately.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Every name it appears under

2 recorded names. A label may use any of them.

INS number

  • 160b(i)

Other names

  • ANNATTO EXTRACTS, BIXIN-BASED

Hazard reference values

No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.

Evidence and how bodies read it

Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated by hand rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.

Sources for this page

  • gsfa retrieved 2026-09-07

Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.

Machine-readable:/api/v1/additives/annatto-extracts-bixin-based.json