Charcoal
CharcoalListed as a colour by Canada.
Listed as colours (CA)
- Canada: Food colour — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3)
Charcoal is the black residue left when organic matter is carbonised, used as a colour. Health Canada lists it as a permitted colour separately from carbon black, which is the entry that reaches this site's vegetable carbon page. Charcoal, unlike vegetable carbon, is not defined by what it was made from.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia and New Zealand | No 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. | ||
| Canada | Permitted | no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) 3 permitted uses Show every permitted use
| Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3)and 2 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-17 |
| European Union | No 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 Britain | No 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. | ||
| Japan | No listing matchedThis site imports only Japan’s list of designated additives (Appended Table 1 to the Regulations for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act), matched by English name. Existing additives, natural flavouring agents and ordinary foods used as additives are permitted outside that list and are not imported, so an empty row does not show that Japan does not permit the substance. | ||
| South Korea | No 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 States | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. | ||
| Codex Alimentarius | Not 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.
| Canada | — | 3 GMP |
|---|
No regulator sets a figure for Charcoal. That is not an absence of control: where the listing says quantum satis or good manufacturing practice, the quantity is limited to what the effect requires.
What it is made from
Made by heating organic material — wood, peat, coconut shell, and historically bone — in a limited supply of air. Health Canada's listing does not say which, so this page claims nothing about the source: anyone who needs to know whether a particular charcoal is of vegetable origin has to ask its maker.
- Vegan status depends on the source
- Vegetarian status depends on the source
- May raise a halal question
- May raise a kosher question
This is not an omission. What this additive is made from is not fixed — depending on the manufacturer it may be plant, animal or microbial in origin, nobody is required to say which, and the same product can change source between production runs. Ask the manufacturer if it matters to you; a label cannot answer it.
Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.
Every name it appears under
1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.
Other names
- Charcoal
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 Charcoal?
- Charcoal is the black residue left when organic matter is carbonised, used as a colour. Health Canada lists it as a permitted colour separately from carbon black, which is the entry that reaches this site's vegetable carbon page. Charcoal, unlike vegetable carbon, is not defined by what it was made from.
- What is Charcoal used for in food?
- It is listed as a colour — the role Canada assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
- Where is Charcoal permitted?
- Of the seven regulators this site reads, Canada permits it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
- Is Charcoal vegan?
- It depends on the source, and a label will not tell you. Charcoal can be made from plant or animal material, manufacturers are not obliged to say which, and the same product can change between production runs. Anyone who needs to know has to ask the manufacturer.
Sources for this page
- ca 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.
Follow changes to Charcoal:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.