Fast Red E

CAS 2302-96-7

Chemical structure of Fast Red E, from PubChem compound 16813
Structure from PubChem CID 16813 (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.

Fast Red E is a red azo dye, supplied as a red-brown powder or granules with sodium chloride or sodium sulfate as the uncoloured bulk. JECFA notes it may be converted into its aluminium lake.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Fast Red E 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 CanadaNo listing matchedHealth Canada’s lists name additives without E or INS numbers, so this site matches them by exact name. A substance listed there under a name this site does not recognise has no row here.
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.

What it is made from

Made by diazotising an aromatic amine and coupling it to a naphthalene sulfonate, from petroleum feedstocks.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number
2302-96-7
InChIKey
YCDHVKWTZBVDKD-UHFFFAOYSA-L
PubChem
CID 16813

How JECFA defines it

The international specification for identity and purity, prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and published by FAO. It is a different document from any above, written by a different body and revised on its own cycle; it is advisory, and a country adopts it or does not.

Fast Red E

Consists essentially of disodium 2-hydroxy-1-(4-sulfonato-1-naphthylazo) naphthalene-6-sulfonate and subsidiary colouring matters together with sodium chloride and/or sodium sulfate as the principal uncoloured components. May be converted to the corresponding aluminium lake in which case only the General Specifications for Aluminium Lakes of Colouring Matters shall apply.

Synonyms: CI Food Red 4, CI (1975) No. 16045 CI (1975) No. 16045; CI Food Red 4

Assay, identification and purity criteria

Description and assay

Specification history
Prepared at the 28th JECFA (1984), published in FNP 31/1 (1984) and in FNP 52 (1992). Metals and arsenic specifications revised at the 59th JECFA (2002). No ADI was allocated at the 21stJECFA (1977)
Chemical names
Disodium 2-hydroxy-1-(4sulfonato-1-naphthylazo)-6-naphthalene-sulfonate
C.A.S. number
2302-96-7
Chemical formula
C 20 H 12 N 2 Na 2 O 7 S 2
Formula weight
502.44
Assay
Not less than 85% total colouring matters
DESCRIPTION
Red-brown powder or granules
FUNCTIONAL USES
Colour
METHOD OF ASSAY
Proceed as directed under Total Content by Titration with Titanous Chloride (see Volume 4) , using the following: Weight of sample: 0.5-0.6 g Buffer: 15 g sodium hydrogen tartrate Weight: (D) of colouring matters equivalent to 1.00 ml of 0.1 N TiCl 3 : 12.56 mg

Identification

Solubility (Vol. 4) Identification of colouring matters (Vol. 4)
Soluble in water; sparingly soluble in ethanol Passes Test

Purity criteria

o Loss on drying at 135 (Vol. 4)
Not more than 15% together with chloride and sulfate calculated as sodium salts
Water insoluble matter (Vol. 4)
Not more than 0.2%
Lead (Vol. 4)
Not more than 2 mg/kg Determine using an atomic absorption technique appropriate to the specified level. The selection of sample size and method of sample preparation may be based on the principles of the method described in Volume 4, “Instrumental Methods.”
Subsidiary colouring matters (Vol. 4)
Not more than 3% Proceed as directed under Column Chromatography using the following conditions: Developing solvent: No. 3 Height of ascent of solvent front: approximately 12 cm
Organic compounds other than colouring matters (Vol. 4)
Not more than 0.3%, sum of 4-Aminonaphthalene-2,7-sulfonic acid, 6-Hydroxynaphthalene-2-sulfonic acid and 6,6'-Oxydi(naphthalene-2-sulfonic acid) Proceed as directed under Column Chromatography
Unsulfonated primary aromatic amines (Vol. 4)
Not more than 0.01% calculated as aniline
Ether extractable matter (Vol. 4)
Not more than 0.2%

FAO JECFA Monograph 1 (2006)

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

  • 2302-96-7
  • 85283-71-2

Other names

  • 1869 Red
  • 4-((2-Hydroxy-6-sulpho-1-naphthyl)azo)naphthalene-1-sulphonic acid, sodium salt
  • Acid Leather Red IBW
  • Acid Red 13
  • Acidal Red E
  • Acidol Red E
  • Acilan Red E
  • Brilliant Ponceau 3RF Extra
  • C.I. Acid Red 13
  • C.I. Acid Red 13 (7CI)
  • C.I. Acid Red 13, disodium salt
  • C.I. Food Red 4
  • Certicol Fast Red E
  • Cherry Red A Geigy
  • CI (1975) No. 16045
  • CI Food Red 4
  • Cilefa Red E
  • Crispin Fast Red E
  • Dalf Fast Red
  • Disodium 4-((2-hydroxy-6-sulphonatonaphthyl)azo)naphthalenesulphonate
  • disodium 6-hydroxy-5-[(4-sulfonato-1-naphthyl)diazenyl]-2-naphthalene sulfonate
  • disodium;6-hydroxy-5-[(4-sulonatonaphthalen-1-yl)diazenyl]naphthalene-2-sulonate
  • Fast Red E
  • Fast Red Specially Pure
  • Food Red 4
  • HD Fast Red E
  • HD Fast Red E Supra
  • Hexacol Fast Red E
  • Hexalan Fast Red E
  • Hispacid Fast Red E
  • Naphthalene Red EA
  • Naphthionic Red A
  • Neklacid Fast Red E
  • Neklacid Red E
  • Red E for food
  • Sodium 4-((2-hydroxy-6-sulfonatonaphthalen-1-yl)diazenyl)naphthalene-1-sulfonate
  • Tertracid Red E
  • XYTVLRKJXNXOOI-CAPIVQQTSA-L

Systematic names

  • 1-Naphthalenesulfonic acid, 4-((2-hydroxy-6-sulfo-1-naphthalenyl)azo)-, disodium salt
  • 1-Naphthalenesulfonic acid, 4-(2-(2-hydroxy-6-sulfo-1-naphthalenyl)diazenyl)-, sodium salt (1:2)
  • Disodium 4-[(2-hydroxy-6-sulfonatonaphthalen-1-yl)diazenyl]naphthalene-1-sulfonate
  • disodium;6-hydroxy-5-[(4-sulfonatonaphthalen-1-yl)diazenyl]naphthalene-2-sulfonate

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 Fast Red E?
Fast Red E is a red azo dye, supplied as a red-brown powder or granules with sodium chloride or sodium sulfate as the uncoloured bulk. JECFA notes it may be converted into its aluminium lake.
Is Fast Red E vegan?
Yes. Fast Red E is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Sources for this page

  • jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23

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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