Caramel

CAS 13494-07-0

Caramel colour is the most-used colour in the world by weight, giving cola, soy sauce, gravy and dark beer their brown. Four classes exist, made differently; the ammonia classes used in cola carry 4-methylimidazole, which California requires be disclosed above a threshold while other regulators set intake limits instead.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Caramel 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 182.1235and 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFANot listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.

What it is made from

Made by heating carbohydrate — glucose, sucrose or invert sugar — with acids, alkalis or salts. Class I uses none; Class III and IV use ammonia or ammonium sulfite, which is what makes them stable in acidic soft drinks.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
13494-07-0
InChIKey
MIDXCONKKJTLDX-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem
CID 61634

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

  • 13494-07-0

As it appears in regulation

  • Caramel

Other names

  • 1,2-Cyclopentanedione, 3,5-dimethyl-
  • 2-CYCLOPENTEN-1-ONE, 2-HYDROXY-3,5-DIMETHYL-
  • 2-Hydroxy-3,5-dimethyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one, 9CI
  • 3,5-Dimethyl-1,2-cyclopentadione
  • 3,5-Dimethyl-1,2-cyclopentadione, >=97%
  • 3,5-Dimethyl-1,2-cyclopentanedione
  • 3,5-dimethyl-2-hydroxy-2-cyclopenten-1-one
  • 3,5-dimethyl-cyclopentane-1,2-dione
  • 3,5-Dimethylcyclopentan-1,2-dione
  • 3,5-Dimethylcyclopentane-1,2-dione
  • Caramel
  • CARAMEL COLOR A
  • FEMA 3269
  • FEMA NO. 3269
  • MIDXCONKKJTLDX-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Systematic names

  • 3,5-dimethylcyclopentane-1,2-dione

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

  • ecfr 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/caramel.json