Chlorophylls

E number E140INS 140CAS 1406-65-1

Used as a colour.

Chlorophylls are the green pigments of plants, extracted for use as a food colour in confectionery, drinks, ice cream and sauces. They fade in acid and heat, which is why the copper complexes are often used instead.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Chlorophylls 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

7 food categories

highest permitted level 20 mg/kg

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
  • 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
  • 13.5 Dietetic foods (e.g. supplementary foods for dietary use) excluding products of food categories — 20 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 140and 7 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Extracted with solvents from edible plant material such as grass, alfalfa or nettle. The extract carries related pigments and plant waxes alongside the chlorophylls themselves.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
1406-65-1
InChIKey
KPJIJGZVAWIZMG-LEGXGVPYSA-P
PubChem
CID 156620228

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E140

INS number

  • 140

CAS registry number

  • 1406-65-1

Other names

  • 00WNZ48OR9
  • 479-61-8 (CHLOROPHYLL A); 519-62-0 (B)
  • CCRIS 9283
  • Chlorofolin
  • Chlorofyl
  • CHLOROPHYLL [MI]
  • Chlorophyllins
  • CHLOROPHYLLS
  • Chlorophylls: 215-800-7, chlorophyll a: 207-536-6, Chlorophyll b: 208-272-4
  • CI 75815 (Natural Green 5)
  • CI Natural Green 3
  • CI Natural Green 3Magnesium ChlorophyllMagnesium Phaeophytin
  • CI Natural Green 5
  • Deodophyll
  • E 140(i)
  • E 140(ii)
  • L-Gruen No. 1
  • Magnesium Chlorophyll
  • Magnesium Phaeo phytin
  • PIGMENTS, BIOLOGICAL, CHLOROPHYLLS
  • Potassium Chloro phyllin
  • Sodium Chlorophyllin
  • tri-sodium chlorophyllin

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/chlorophylls.json