Ethyl beta-apo-8'-carotenoate

Listed as a colour by Canada.

Listed as colours (CA)
Chemical structure of Ethyl beta-apo-8'-carotenoate, from PubChem compound 6391647
Structure from PubChem CID 6391647 (National Library of Medicine, public domain). A depiction of one compound: where a listing covers a family, or a substance has no single structure, this page shows none.

A synthetic carotenoid colour, the ethyl ester of beta-apo-8'-carotenoic acid, giving yellow to orange shades. It is the ester of the acid whose aldehyde, beta-apo-8'-carotenal, has its own page.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Ethyl beta-apo-8'-carotenoate by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
Australia and New ZealandFood Standards Australia New ZealandNo 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.
CanadaHealth CanadaPermitted, with conditions

highest permitted level 35 mg/kg

4 permitted uses

Show every permitted use
  • In: Apple and (naming the fruit or fruits) jam; Bread; Butter; Calorie-reduced margarine; Concentrated (naming the fruit) juice, except frozen concentrated orange juice; Fig marmalade with pectin; Fish roe (caviar); Ice cream mix; Ice milk mix; Icing sugar; (Naming the fruit or fruits) jam with pectin; (Naming the fruit or fruits) jelly with pectin; Liqueur; Lobster paste; Margarine; (Naming the flavour) milk; (Naming the flavour) partly skimmed milk; (Naming the flavour) partly skimmed milk with added milk solids; (Naming the flavour) skim milk; (Naming the flavour) skim milk with added milk solids; Pickles and relishes; Pineapple marmalade with pectin; Rhubarb and (naming the fruit or fruits) jam; Sherbet; Smoked fish; Tomato catsup. Purpose: Food colour. Limit: 35 ppm. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item E.2(a)
  • In: Blend of prepared fish and prepared meat as set out in paragraph 18.1.3(g) of Volume 18 of the Food Compositional Standards Document. Purpose: Food colour. Limit: 35 ppm. Amendment notices: NOM/ADM-0122. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item E.2(b)
  • In: Cheddar cheese; (Naming the variety) cheese; Cold-pack cheese food; Cold-pack cheese food with (naming the added ingredients); Cold-pack (naming the variety) cheese; Cold-pack (naming the variety) cheese with (naming the added ingredients); Cream cheese spread; Cream cheese spread with (naming the added ingredients); Cream cheese with (naming the added ingredients); Processed cheese food; Processed cheese food with (naming the added ingredients); Processed cheese spread; Processed cheese spread with (naming the added ingredients); Processed (naming the variety) cheese; Processed (naming the variety) cheese with (naming the added ingredients). Purpose: Food colour. Limit: If used singly, the amount not to exceed 35 ppm. If used in combination with β-apo-8'-carotenal, the total combined amount not to exceed 35 ppm. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item E.2(c)
  • In: Unstandardized foods. Purpose: Food colour. Limit: 35 ppm. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item E.2(d)
Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3)and 3 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-17
European UnionEuropean Commission / EFSANo 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 BritainFood Standards Agency / Food Standards ScotlandNo 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.
JapanConsumer Affairs AgencyNo 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 KoreaMinistry of Food and Drug SafetyNo 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 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 / JECFANot 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.

Canada35 mg/kg3 numeric limit, 1 no quantity stated

What it is made from

Made synthetically by the same routes as the other apocarotenoids.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

InChIKey
GIRXTOSJOKKBHO-BQTUIHPCSA-N
PubChem
CID 6391647

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

  • 1109-11-1

Other names

  • 8'-Apo-beta, psi-carotenoid acid, ethyl ester
  • 8'-Apo-beta,psi-carotenoic acid, ethyl ester
  • 8'-Apo-beta-carotenoic acid, ethyl ester
  • 8'-Apo-beta-carotenoic acid, ethyl ester, all-trans-
  • beta-Apo-8'-carotenoic acid, ethyl ester
  • beta-Apo-8-carotenoic acid ethyl ester
  • C.I. Food Orange 7
  • C.I. FOOD ORANGE 7 (ETHYL ESTER)
  • Carophyll yellow, all-trans-
  • Ethyl 8'-apo-b-caroten-8'-oate
  • Ethyl 8'-apo-beta, psi-carotenoate
  • Ethyl 8'-apo-beta-caroten-8'-oate
  • Ethyl 8'-apo-beta-carotene-8'-oate
  • Ethyl 8'-apo-beta-carotenoate
  • Ethyl 8'-apo-caroten-8'-oate
  • Ethyl all-trans-8'-Apo-beta-caroten-8'-oate
  • Ethyl beta-apo-8'-carotenoate
  • ETHYL BETA-APO-8/'-CAROTENOATE (TRANS)
  • Ethyl |_-apo-8 inverted exclamation marka-carotenoate
  • Ethyl |A-Apo-8 inverted exclamation marka-Carotenoate
  • Ethyl β-Apo-8'-Carotenoate
  • Food orange 7
  • GIRXTOSJOKKBHO-BQTUIHPCSA-N
  • INS NO.160F
  • INS-160F
  • Lucantin Yellow
  • TXS44PX8FZ
  • Vitamin A apo-ester
  • Yellow Carophyll

Systematic names

  • (2E,4E,6E,8E,10E,12E,14E,16E)-Ethyl 2,6,11,15-tetramethyl-17-(2,6,6-trimethylcyclohex-1-en-1-yl)heptadeca-2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16-octaenoate
  • 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16-Heptadecaoctaenoic acid, 2,6,11,15-tetramethyl-17-(2,6,6-trimethyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-, ethyl ester, (2E,4E,6E,8E,10E,12E,14E,16E)-
  • 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16-Heptadecaoctaenoic acid, 2,6,11,15-tetramethyl-17-(2,6,6-trimethyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-, ethyl ester, (all-E)-
  • ethyl (2E,4E,6E,8E,10E,12E,14E,16E)-2,6,11,15-tetramethyl-17-(2,6,6-trimethylcyclohex-1-en-1-yl)heptadeca-2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16-octaenoate
  • ethyl (2E,4E,6E,8E,10E,12E,14E,16E)-2,6,11,15-tetramethyl-17-(2,6,6-trimethylcyclohexen-1-yl)heptadeca-2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16-octaenoate

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 Ethyl beta-apo-8'-carotenoate?
A synthetic carotenoid colour, the ethyl ester of beta-apo-8'-carotenoic acid, giving yellow to orange shades. It is the ester of the acid whose aldehyde, beta-apo-8'-carotenal, has its own page.
What is Ethyl beta-apo-8'-carotenoate 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 Ethyl beta-apo-8'-carotenoate 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 Ethyl beta-apo-8'-carotenoate vegan?
Yes. Ethyl beta-apo-8'-carotenoate is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

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.

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