Canthaxanthin

E number E161gINS 161gCAS 514-78-3

Used as a colour.

Canthaxanthin is an orange-red carotenoid. Its largest use is not in food at all but in poultry and fish feed, where it deepens the colour of egg yolks and farmed salmon flesh; direct use in food is more limited.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Canthaxanthin by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationPermitted21 CFR 73.75retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

34 food categories

highest permitted level 200 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.1.4 Flavoured Fluid Milk Drinks — 15 mg/kg
  • 01.6.1 Unripened cheese — 15 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2 Ripened cheese — 15 mg/kg
  • 01.6.4.2 Flavoured processed cheese, including containing fruit, vegetables, meat, etc. — 15 mg/kg
  • 01.6.5 Cheese analogues — 15 mg/kg
  • 01.7 Dairy-based desserts (e.g. pudding, fruit or flavoured yoghurt) — 15 mg/kg
  • 02.2.2 Fat spreads, dairy fat spreads and blended spreads — 15 mg/kg
  • 02.3 Fat emulsions mainly of type oil-in-water, including mixed and/or flavoured products based on fat emulsions — 15 mg/kg
  • 02.4 Fat-based desserts excluding dairy-based dessert products of food category 01.7 — 15 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.11 Fruit fillings for pastries — 15 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.5 — 200 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.6 Fruit-based spreads (e.g. chutney) excluding products of food category — 15 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.9 Fruit-based desserts, incl. fruit-flavoured water-based desserts — 15 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.2 Dried vegetables (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweeds, and nuts and seeds — 10 mg/kg
  • 06.4.2 Dried pastas and noodles and like products — 15 mg/kg
  • 06.4.3 Pre-cooked pastas and noodles and like products — 15 mg/kg
  • 06.5 Cereal and starch based desserts (e.g. rice pudding, tapioca pudding) — 15 mg/kg
  • 08.3.1.1 Cured (including salted) non-heat treated processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products — 100 mg/kg
  • 09.2.1 Frozen fish, fish fillets, and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 35 mg/kg
  • 09.2.5 Smoked, dried, fermented, and/or salted fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 15 mg/kg
  • 09.3.3 Salmon substitutes, caviar and other fish roe products — 15 mg/kg
  • 09.4 Fully preserved, including canned or fermented fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 15 mg/kg
  • 10.1 Fresh eggs — GMP
  • 10.4 Egg-based desserts (e.g. custard) — 15 mg/kg
  • 11.4 Other sugars and syrups (e.g. xylose, maple syrup, sugar toppings) — 15 mg/kg
  • 12.2.2 Seasonings and condiments — 20 mg/kg
  • 12.5.2 Mixes for soups and broths — 30 mg/kg
  • 12.6 Sauces and like products — 30 mg/kg
  • 14.1.4.1 Carbonated water-based flavoured drinks — 5 mg/kg
  • 14.1.4.2 Non-carbonated water-based flavoured drinks, including punches and ades — 5 mg/kg
  • 14.1.4.3 Concentrates (liquid or solid) for water-based flavoured drinks — 5 mg/kg
  • 14.2.6 Distilled spirituous beverages containing more than 15% alcohol — 5 mg/kg
  • 14.2.7 Aromatized alcoholic beverages (e.g. beer, wine and spirituous cooler-type beverages, low-alcoholic refreshers) — 5 mg/kg
  • 15.1 Snacks - potato, cereal, flour or starch based (from roots and tubers, pulses and legumes) — 45 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 161gand 33 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Produced by chemical synthesis, and also found naturally in some mushrooms and crustaceans. It is a carotenoid closely related to beta-carotene but with additional oxygen-bearing groups.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
514-78-3
InChIKey
FDSDTBUPSURDBL-DKLMTRRASA-N
PubChem
CID 5281227

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E161G

INS number

  • 161g

CAS registry number

  • 514-78-3

As it appears in regulation

  • Canthaxanthin

Other names

  • .BETA.-CAROTENE-4,4'-DIONE
  • 4,4'-DIKETO-.BETA.-CAROTENE
  • 4,4'-Diketo-b-carotene
  • 4,4'-Diketo-beta-carotene
  • 4,4'-Dioxo-b-carotene
  • 4,4'-Dioxo-beta-carotene
  • 4-07-00-02680 (Beilstein Handbook Reference)
  • all-trans,beta-Carotene-4,4'-dione
  • all-trans-beta-carotene-4,4'-dione
  • All-trans-Canthaxanthin
  • all-trans-Canthaxanthin (E 161g)
  • all-trans-Canthaxanthin - Technical grade
  • Aphanicin; Chlorellaxanthin
  • beta,beta-Carotene-4,4'-dione
  • beta-CAROTENE-4,4'-DIONE, all-trans-
  • BRN 1898520
  • C.I. Food Orange 8
  • Cantaxanthin
  • Cantaxanthine
  • CANTHA
  • CANTHAX
  • Canthaxanthin
  • CANTHAXANTHIN (euglenanone)
  • Canthaxanthin (Standard)
  • Canthaxanthin (trans)
  • Canthaxanthin (trans), analytical standard
  • Canthaxanthin(E 161g)
  • Canthaxanthin, >=95.0% (HPLC)
  • CanthaXanthin, Powder
  • Canthaxanthin, tech.
  • Canthaxanthine
  • Canthaxanthine 10 microg/mL in Acetonitrile
  • Carophyll Red
  • Carotene-4,4'-dione, beta-
  • CAS-514-78-3
  • CCRIS 3276
  • CI Food Orange 8
  • CI-FOOD ORANGE 8
  • E 161g
  • E 161g;all-trans-Canthaxanthin
  • Food orange 8
  • INS NO.161G
  • INS-161G
  • Isomer of Canthaxanthin
  • KANTAKISANTIN
  • L-Orange 7
  • LUCANTIN RED
  • Orobronze
  • Roxanthin Red 10
  • β-Carotene-4,4’-dione

Systematic names

  • 2,4,4-trimethyl-3-[(1E,3E,5E,7E,9E,11E,13E,15E,17E)-3,7,12,16-tetramethyl-18-(2,6,6-trimethyl-3-oxo-cyclohexen-1-yl)octadeca-1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17-nonaenyl]cyclohex-2-en-1-one
  • 2,4,4-trimethyl-3-[(1E,3E,5E,7E,9E,11E,13E,15E,17E)-3,7,12,16-tetramethyl-18-(2,6,6-trimethyl-3-oxocyclohexen-1-yl)octadeca-1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17-nonaenyl]cyclohex-2-en-1-one
  • 3,3'-((1E,3E,5E,7E,9E,11E,13E,15E,17E)-3,7,12,16-tetramethyloctadeca-1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17-nonaene-1,18-diyl)bis(2,4,4-trimethylcyclohex-2-en-1-one)

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
TypeValuePopulationAssessed byOpinion
ADI0.03 mg/kg bw/dayconsumersEFSA FEEDAP2014
ADI0.03 mg/kg bw/dayconsumersEFSAnot identified in the dataset

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

  • ecfr retrieved 2026-09-07
  • 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/canthaxanthin.json