Beet red

E number E162INS 162CAS 7659-95-2

Used as a colour.

Beet red, or betanin, is the deep red-purple pigment of beetroot, used in ice cream, confectionery, yoghurts and desserts. It is sensitive to heat and light, which limits it to foods that are not strongly processed after colouring.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Beet red 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

8 food categories

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

Show every food category
  • 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, — GMP
  • 06.4.2 Dried pastas and noodles and like products — GMP
  • 08.1.1 Fresh meat, poultry and game, whole pieces or cuts — GMP
  • 08.1.2 Fresh meat, poultry and game, comminuted — GMP
  • 09.2.2 Frozen battered fish, fish fillets and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.4.1 Cooked fish and fish products — GMP
  • 09.2.4.3 Fried fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.5 Smoked, dried, fermented, and/or salted fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 162and 8 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Obtained by pressing or extracting red beetroot, Beta vulgaris, and concentrating the juice. Because it is little more than concentrated beet juice it carries some of the sugars and flavour of the root.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
7659-95-2
InChIKey
CTMLKIKAUFEMLE-FTNGGYTGSA-N
PubChem
CID 6540685

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E162

INS number

  • 162

CAS registry number

  • 7659-95-2
  • 78693-88-6

Other names

  • (15S)-BETANIN
  • 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylicacid,4-(2-(2-carboxy-5-(beta-d-glucopyranosyloxy)-2,3
  • 5YJC992ZP6
  • BEET RED
  • Beetroot Red, betanin
  • BETANIDIN 5-.BETA.-D-GLUCOPYRANOSIDE
  • Betanidin 5-beta-D-glucopyranoside
  • Betanin
  • Betanine
  • CTMLKIKAUFEMLE-FTNGGYTGSA-N
  • E 162
  • E-162BETANIN
  • INS NO.162BETANIN
  • INS-162BETANIN
  • Phytolaccanin

Systematic names

  • (2S)-1-((2Z)-2-((2S)-2,6-dicarboxy-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyridin-4-ylidene)ethylidene)-6-hydroxy-5-((2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl)oxy-2,3-dihydroindol-1-ium-2-carboxylate
  • (2S)-1-(2-((2S)-2,6-dicarboxy-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyridin-4-ylidene)ethylidene)-6-hydroxy-5-((2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl)oxy-2,3-dihydroindol-1-ium-2-carboxylate
  • (2S)-1-[(2E)-2-[(2S)-2,6-dicarboxy-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyridin-4-ylidene]ethylidene]-6-hydroxy-5-[(2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]oxy-2,3-dihydroindol-1-ium-2-carboxylate
  • (2S)-4-[(E)-2-[(2S)-2-carboxy-6-hydroxy-5-[(2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]oxy-2,3-dihydroindol-1-yl]ethenyl]-2,3-dihydropyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid
  • (2S)-4-[(E)-2-[(2S)-2-carboxy-6-hydroxy-5-[(2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)tetrahydropyran-2-yl]oxy-indolin-1-yl]vinyl]-2,3-dihydropyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid
  • (2S)-4-[2-[(2S)-2-Carboxy-5-(beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-2,3-dihydro-6-hydroxy-1H-indol-1-yl]ethenyl]-2,3-dihydro-2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid
  • (2S)-4-{(E)-2-[(2S)-2-Carboxy-5-(beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-6-hydroxy-2,3-dihydro-1H-indol-1-yl]ethen-1-yl}-2,3-dihydropyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid
  • (S-(R*,R*))-4-(2-(2-CARBOXY-5-(.BETA.-D-GLUCOPYRANOSYLOXY)-2,3-DIHYDRO-6-HYDROXY-1H-INDOL-1-YL)VINYL)-2,3-DIHYDROPYRIDINE-2,6-DICARBOXYLIC ACID
  • (S-(R*,R*))-4-(2-(2-Carboxy-5-(beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-2,3-dihydro-6-hydroxy-1H-indol-1-yl)vinyl)-2,3-dihydropyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid
  • (S-(R*,R*-(E,E)))-2-CARBOXY-1-((2,6-DICARBOXY-2,3-DIHYDRO-4(1H)-PYRIDINYLIDENE ETHYLIDENE)-5-(.BETA.-D-GLUCOPYRANOSYLOXY)-2,3-DIHYDRO-6-HYDROXY-1H-INDOLIUM HYDROXIDE, INNER SALT
  • (S-(R*,R*-(E,E)))-2-Carboxy-1-((2,6-dicarboxy-2,3-dihydro-4(1H)-pyridinylidene)ethylidene)-5-(beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-2,3-dihydro-6-hydroxy-1H-indolium hydroxide, inner salt
  • 2,6-PYRIDINEDICARBOXYLIC ACID, 4-(2-(2-CARBOXY-5-(.BETA.-D-GLUCOPYRANOSYLOXY)-2,3-DIHYDRO-6-HYDROXY-1H-INDOL-1-YL)ETHENYL)-2,3-DIHYDRO-, (S-(R*,R*))-
  • 2,6-Pyridinedicarboxylic acid, 4-(2-(2-carboxy-5-(beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-2,3-dihydro-6-hydroxy-1H-indol-1-yl)ethenyl)-2,3-dihydro-, (S-(R*,R*))-

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/beet-red.json