Caramel II - sulfite caramel

E number E150bINS 150b

Used as a colour.

Caramel II is one of the four caramel colour classes, made with sulfite compounds but without ammonium. It is used chiefly in spirits and some flavourings.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Caramel II - sulfite 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 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

60 food categories

highest permitted level 50,000 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.1.4 Flavoured Fluid Milk Drinks — 2,000 mg/kg
  • 01.6.1 Unripened cheese — 15,000 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2.2 Rind of ripened cheese — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2.3 Cheese powder (for reconstitution; e.g. for cheese sauces) — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 01.6.4.2 Flavoured processed cheese, including containing fruit, vegetables, meat, etc. — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 01.6.5 Cheese analogues — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 01.7 Dairy-based desserts (e.g. pudding, fruit or flavoured yoghurt) — 2,000 mg/kg
  • 02.2.2 Fat spreads, dairy fat spreads and blended spreads — 500 mg/kg
  • 02.3 Fat emulsions mainly of type oil-in-water, including mixed and/or flavoured products based on fat emulsions — 20,000 mg/kg
  • 02.4 Fat-based desserts excluding dairy-based dessert products of food category 01.7 — 20,000 mg/kg
  • 03.0 Edible ices, including sherbet and sorbet — 8,000 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.11 Fruit fillings for pastries — 7,500 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.3 Fruit in vinegar, oil, or brine — 7,500 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.4 Canned or bottled (pasteurized) fruit — 7,500 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.5 — 1,500 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.6 Fruit-based spreads (e.g. chutney) excluding products of food category — 500 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.7 Candied fruit — 7,500 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.8 Fruit preparations, including pulp, purees, fruit toppings and coconut milk — 7,500 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.9 Fruit-based desserts, incl. fruit-flavoured water-based desserts — 7,500 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 — 500 mg/kg
  • 05.1.3 Cocoa-based spreads, incl. fillings — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 05.1.4 Cocoa and chocolate products — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 05.1.5 Imitation chocolate, chocolate substitute products — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4 — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 05.3 Chewing gum — 20,000 mg/kg
  • 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 06.3 Breakfast cereals, including rolled oats — 2,500 mg/kg
  • 06.4.3 Pre-cooked pastas and noodles and like products — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 06.5 Cereal and starch based desserts (e.g. rice pudding, tapioca pudding) — 1,000 mg/kg
  • 06.6 Batters (e.g. for breading or batters for fish or poultry) — 2,500 mg/kg
  • 07.1.1.1 Yeast-leavened breads and specialty breads — 15,000 mg/kg
  • 07.1.1.2 Soda breads — 15,000 mg/kg
  • 07.1.2 Crackers, excluding sweet crackers — 15,000 mg/kg
  • 07.1.3 Other ordinary bakery products (e.g. bagels, pita, English muffins) — 15,000 mg/kg
  • 07.1.4 Bread-type products, including bread stuffing and bread crumbs — 15,000 mg/kg
  • 07.1.5 Steamed breads and buns — 15,000 mg/kg
  • 07.1.6 Mixes for bread and ordinary bakery wares — 15,000 mg/kg
  • 07.2 Fine bakery wares (sweet, salty, savoury) and mixes — 3,000 mg/kg
  • 08.1.2 Fresh meat, poultry and game, comminuted — 2,000 mg/kg
  • 08.3 Processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products — 2,000 mg/kg
  • 09.2.4.1 Cooked fish and fish products — 1,250 mg/kg
  • 09.4 Fully preserved, including canned or fermented fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 25,600 mg/kg
  • 12.2.2 Seasonings and condiments — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 12.3 Vinegars — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 12.4 Mustards — 300 mg/kg
  • 12.5 Soups and broths — 25,000 mg/kg
  • 12.6 Sauces and like products — 6,000 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 — 200 mg/kg
  • 13.3 Dietetic foods intended for special medical purposes (excluding products of food category 13.1) — 4,000 mg/kg
  • 13.4 Dietetic formulae for slimming purposes and weight reduction — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 13.5 Dietetic foods (e.g. supplementary foods for dietary use) excluding products of food categories — 20,000 mg/kg
  • 13.6 Food supplements — 7,500 mg/kg
  • 14.2.1 Beer and malt beverages — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 14.2.2 Cider and perry — 1,000 mg/kg
  • 14.2.3.3 Fortified grape wine, grape liquor wine, and sweet grape wine — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 14.2.4 Wines (other than grape) — 1,000 mg/kg
  • 14.2.5 Mead — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 14.2.6 Distilled spirituous beverages containing more than 15% alcohol — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 14.2.7 Aromatized alcoholic beverages (e.g. beer, wine and spirituous cooler-type beverages, low-alcoholic refreshers) — 4,000 mg/kg
  • 15.0 Ready-to-eat savouries — 1,000 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 150band 59 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Produced by heating food-grade carbohydrates in the presence of sulfite compounds but no ammonium compounds. The four caramel classes differ by which reagents are used, which changes both the colour's behaviour and the specification it must meet.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E150b

INS number

  • 150b

Other names

  • CARAMEL II - SULFITE CARAMEL
  • Caustic sulphite caramel
  • Class II Caustic Sulphite Caramel
  • E 150b

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
TypeValuePopulationAssessed byOpinion
ADI300 mg/kg bw/dayconsumersEFSA ANS2011

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/caramel-ii-sulfite-caramel.json