Cochineal extract; carmine
Cochineal extract; carmineThis is the United States listing for the colour obtained from cochineal insects, covering both the crude extract and the purified carmine lake. US labelling rules require it to be named explicitly rather than hidden under a general colour declaration, because of allergic reactions in a small number of people.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Permitted | 21 CFR 73.100retrieved 2026-09-07 | |
| Codex Alimentarius | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. |
What it is made from
Extracted from the dried bodies of the female cochineal scale insect, Dactylopius coccus. Because it is insect-derived it is neither vegan nor vegetarian, and it raises questions under some halal and kosher rulings.
- Not vegan
- Not vegetarian
- May raise a halal question
- May raise a kosher question
Every name it appears under
1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.
As it appears in regulation
- Cochineal extract; carmine
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/cochineal-extract-carmine.json