β-Apo-8′-carotenal

Listed as a colour by Canada and the US.

Listed as colours (CA, US)

Beta-apo-8'-carotenal is a carotenoid colour giving orange to reddish-orange shades, used in drinks, cheese and sauces. It gives a redder shade than beta-carotene.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of β-Apo-8′-carotenal by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
Australia and New ZealandFood Standards Australia New ZealandPermitted, with conditions

48 food categories

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

Show every food category
  • 0.2 Colourings — GMP
  • 0.3 Flavourings — GMP
  • 1.1.2 Liquid milk products and flavoured liquid milk — GMP
  • 1.2.2 Fermented milk products and rennetted milk products — GMP
  • 1.3 Condensed milk and evaporated milk — GMP
  • 1.4.2 Cream products (flavoured, whipped, thickened, sour cream etc) — GMP
  • 1.5 Dried milk, milk powder, cream powder — GMP
  • 1.6 Cheese and cheese products — GMP
  • 11.1.1 Rainbow sugar — GMP
  • 11.4 Tabletop sweeteners — GMP
  • 12.1.2 Reduced sodium salt mixture — GMP
  • 12.1.3 Salt substitute — GMP
  • 12.3 Vinegars and related products — GMP
  • 12.5 Yeast and yeast products — GMP
  • 12.6 Vegetable protein products — GMP
  • 13.3 Formulated meal replacements and formulated supplementary foods — GMP
  • 13.4 Formulated supplementary sports foods — GMP
  • 13.5 Food for special medical purposes — GMP
  • 14.1.1.2 Carbonated, mineralised and soda waters — GMP
  • 14.1.2.1 Fruit and vegetable juices — GMPFor juice separated by other than mechanical means only.
  • 14.1.2.2 Fruit and vegetable juice products — GMP
  • 14.1.3 Water based flavoured drinks — GMP
  • 14.1.4 Formulated Beverages — GMP
  • 14.2.3 Wine based drinks and reduced alcohol wines — GMP
  • 14.2.4.1 Fruit wine products and vegetable wine products — GMP
  • 14.2.5 Spirits and liqueurs — GMP
  • 14.3 Alcoholic beverages not included in item 14.2 — GMP
  • 2.1 Edible oils essentially free of water — GMPNot for olive oil.
  • 2.2.1.1 Butter — GMP
  • 2.2.1.2 Butter products — GMP
  • 2.2.1.3 Margarine and similar products — GMP
  • 2.2.2 Oil emulsions (<80% oil) — GMP
  • 20 Foods not included in items 0 to 14 — GMP
  • 3 Ice cream and edible ices — GMP
  • 4.3 Processed fruits and vegetables — GMP
  • 5.1 Chocolate and cocoa products — GMPPermitted on the surface of chocolate only.
  • 5.2 Sugar confectionery — GMP
  • 5.4 Icings and frostings — GMP
  • 6.3 Processed cereal and meal products — GMP
  • 6.4 Flour products (including noodles and pasta) — GMP
  • 7 Breads and bakery products — GMP
  • 8.2 Processed meat, poultry and game products in whole cuts or pieces — GMP
  • 8.3 Processed comminuted meat, poultry and game products, other than products listed in item 8.3.2 — GMPNot for sausage or sausage meat containing raw, unprocessed meat.
  • 8.4 Edible casings — GMP
  • 8.5 Animal protein products — GMP
  • 9.2 Processed fish and fish products — GMP
  • 9.3 Semi preserved fish and fish products — GMP
  • 9.4 Fully preserved fish including canned fish products — GMP
Food Standards Code, Schedule 15, S15—5and 47 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-17
CanadaHealth CanadaPermitted, with conditions

highest permitted level 35 mg/kg

5 permitted uses

Show every permitted use
  • In: Apple and (naming the fruit or fruits) jam; Bread; Butter; calorie-reduced margarine; Concentrated (naming the fruit) juice, except frozen concentrated orange juice; Fig marmalade with pectin; Fish roe (caviar); Ice cream mix; Ice milk mix; Icing sugar; (Naming the fruit or fruits) jam with pectin; (Naming the fruit or fruits) jelly with pectin; Liqueur; Lobster paste; Margarine; (Naming the flavour) milk; (Naming the flavour) partly skimmed milk; (Naming the flavour) partly skimmed milk with added milk solids; (Naming the flavour) skim milk; (Naming the flavour) skim milk with added milk solids; Pickles and relishes; Pineapple marmalade with pectin; Rhubarb and (naming the fruit or fruits) jam; Sherbet; Smoked fish; Tomato catsup. Purpose: Food colour. Limit: 35 ppm. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item A.7(a)
  • In: Blend of prepared fish and prepared meat as set out in paragraph 18.1.3(g) of Volume 18 of the Food Compositional Standards Document. Purpose: Food colour. Limit: 35 ppm. Amendment notices: NOM/ADM-0122. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item A.7(b)
  • In: Cheddar cheese; (Naming the variety) cheese; Cold-pack cheese food; Cold-pack cheese food with (naming the added ingredients); Cold-pack (naming the variety) cheese; Cold-pack (naming the variety) cheese with (naming the added ingredients); Cream cheese spread; Cream cheese spread with (naming the added ingredients); Cream cheese with (naming the added ingredients); Processed cheese food; Processed cheese food with (naming the added ingredients); Processed cheese spread; Processed cheese spread with (naming the added ingredients); Processed (naming the variety) cheese; Processed (naming the variety) cheese with (naming the added ingredients). Purpose: Food colour. Limit: If used singly, the amount not to exceed 35 ppm. If used in combination with ethyl β-apo-8'-carotenoate, the total combined amount not to exceed 35 ppm. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item A.7(c)
  • In: (Naming the flavour) essence; (Naming the flavour) extract; (Naming the flavour) flavour. Purpose: Food colour. Limit: Good Manufacturing Practice. Amendment notices: M-FAA-24-14. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item A.7(c.1)
  • In: Unstandardized foods. Purpose: Food colour. Limit: 35 ppm. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item A.7(d)
Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3)and 4 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-17
European UnionEuropean Commission / EFSANo listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it.
Great BritainFood Standards Agency / Food Standards ScotlandNo listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it.
JapanConsumer Affairs AgencyPermitted, with conditions
Designated additive: Appended Table 1, item 28, β―アポ―８'―カロテナール (“β-Apo-8’ -carotenal” in the unofficial English translation). …

Designated additive: Appended Table 1, item 28, β―アポ―８'―カロテナール (“β-Apo-8’ -carotenal” in the unofficial English translation). Standards for use — Specifications and Standards for Foods, Food Additives, etc. (MHW Notification No. 370 of 1959), Part II (Food Additives), F (Standards for use), entry β―アポ―8′―カロテナール: (1) [must not be used in the foods stated] “β―アポ―8′―カロテナールは、こんぶ類、食肉、鮮魚介類(鯨肉を含む。)、茶、のり類、豆類、野菜及びわかめ類に使用してはならない。” The Japanese is the standard as published. There is no official English translation of the Notification; the English in square brackets is this site’s description of what each sentence does, not a translation of the foods or the levels. Compositional specifications for this additive, in the same Notification, are not imported and are not shown here; nor are the general rules in F 添加物一般, which apply to every additive.

Regulations for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act (MHW Ordinance No. 23 of 1948), Appended Table 1retrieved 2026-10-18
South KoreaMinistry of Food and Drug SafetyNo listing matchedThis site imports Part III of South Korea’s Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, matched by CAS number, then INS number, then exact name. Mixed preparations and sanitisers are not imported, and an entry whose identifiers disagreed with a page’s is held for review, so an empty row does not show that South Korea does not permit the substance.
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationPermitted21 CFR 73.90retrieved 2026-10-17
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFANot listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.

How much is permitted

A listing usually limits the quantity as well as the food. Only one of the forms that takes is a figure: quantum satis and good manufacturing practice permit the amount the technological effect requires and no more, which is a limit rather than the absence of one. Figures below are the range across every food category this page is listed in, and categories differ between regulators — see how much is permitted.

Australia and New Zealand—48 GMP
Canada35 mg/kg3 numeric limit, 1 GMP, 1 no quantity stated
Japan—1 no quantity stated
United States—1 no quantity stated

What it is made from

Produced by chemical synthesis. It also occurs naturally in citrus and spinach.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

Every name it appears under

1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.

As it appears in regulation

  • β-Apo-8′-carotenal

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 rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.

Common questions

Assembled from what is above, in the words the questions are usually asked in. Each answer is the same statement the relevant section makes, with the same citations behind it.

What is β-Apo-8′-carotenal?
Beta-apo-8'-carotenal is a carotenoid colour giving orange to reddish-orange shades, used in drinks, cheese and sauces. It gives a redder shade than beta-carotene.
What is β-Apo-8′-carotenal used for in food?
It is listed as a colour — the role Canada and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is β-Apo-8′-carotenal banned in Europe?
No. β-Apo-8′-carotenal does not appear on the EU's list of authorised food additives, which is not the same as being banned: the EU permits an additive only where it has authorised it, and usually the reason for an absence is that no one applied. The EU has made no finding against this substance. It does mean it may not be used as a food additive in the EU today.
Where is β-Apo-8′-carotenal permitted?
Of the seven regulators this site reads, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, Japan and the US permit it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
Is β-Apo-8′-carotenal vegan?
Yes. β-Apo-8′-carotenal is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Sources for this page

  • anz retrieved 2026-10-17
  • ca retrieved 2026-10-17
  • jp retrieved 2026-10-18
  • ecfr retrieved 2026-10-17

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

Machine-readable: a JSON record of this additive is given on request —how to ask for access.

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