FD&C Blue No. 2

E number E132INS 132CAS 860-22-0

Used as a colour.

FD&C Blue No. 2, known internationally as indigotine or indigo carmine, is a synthetic blue dye used in confectionery, baked goods and pet food. It is the synthetic relative of indigo, the dye used on denim.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of FD&C Blue No. 2 by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationPermitted, with conditions

Subject to batch certification by FDA.

21 CFR 74.102retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

51 food categories

highest permitted level 450 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.1.4 Flavoured Fluid Milk Drinks — 300 mg/kg
  • 01.6.1 Unripened cheese — 200 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2.2 Rind of ripened cheese — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.6.4.2 Flavoured processed cheese, including containing fruit, vegetables, meat, etc. — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.6.5 Cheese analogues — 200 mg/kg
  • 01.7 Dairy-based desserts (e.g. pudding, fruit or flavoured yoghurt) — 150 mg/kg
  • 02.3 Fat emulsions mainly of type oil-in-water, including mixed and/or flavoured products based on fat emulsions — 100 mg/kg
  • 02.4 Fat-based desserts excluding dairy-based dessert products of food category 01.7 — 150 mg/kg
  • 03.0 Edible ices, including sherbet and sorbet — 150 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.11 Fruit fillings for pastries — 100 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.5 — 300 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.6 Fruit-based spreads (e.g. chutney) excluding products of food category — 200 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.7 Candied fruit — 200 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.8 Fruit preparations, including pulp, purees, fruit toppings and coconut milk — 100 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.9 Fruit-based desserts, incl. fruit-flavoured water-based desserts — 150 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.3 Vegetables (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), and seaweeds in vinegar, oil, brine, or soybean sauce — 150 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.6 Vegetable (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweed, and nut and seed pulps and preparations (e.g. vegetable desserts and sauces, candied vegetables) other than food category 04.2.2.5 — 100 mg/kg
  • 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, — 200 mg/kg
  • 05.1.4 Cocoa and chocolate products — 450 mg/kg
  • 05.1.5 Imitation chocolate, chocolate substitute products — 300 mg/kg
  • 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4 — 300 mg/kg
  • 05.3 Chewing gum — 300 mg/kg
  • 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces — 300 mg/kg
  • 06.5 Cereal and starch based desserts (e.g. rice pudding, tapioca pudding) — 150 mg/kg
  • 06.8.1 Soybean-based beverages — 150 mg/kg
  • 07.2 Fine bakery wares (sweet, salty, savoury) and mixes — 200 mg/kg
  • 09.1.1 Fresh fish — 300 mg/kg
  • 09.2.1 Frozen fish, fish fillets, and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 300 mg/kg
  • 09.2.4.1 Cooked fish and fish products — 300 mg/kg
  • 09.2.4.2 Cooked molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 250 mg/kg
  • 09.3.3 Salmon substitutes, caviar and other fish roe products — 300 mg/kg
  • 09.3.4 Semi-preserved fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans and echinoderms (e.g. fish paste), excluding products of food categories 09.3.1 - 09.3.3 — 290 mg/kg
  • 09.4 Fully preserved, including canned or fermented fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 300 mg/kg
  • 10.1 Fresh eggs — 300 mg/kg
  • 10.4 Egg-based desserts (e.g. custard) — 300 mg/kg
  • 11.4 Other sugars and syrups (e.g. xylose, maple syrup, sugar toppings) — 300 mg/kg
  • 12.2.2 Seasonings and condiments — 300 mg/kg
  • 12.4 Mustards — 300 mg/kg
  • 12.5 Soups and broths — 50 mg/kg
  • 12.6 Sauces and like products — 300 mg/kg
  • 13.3 Dietetic foods intended for special medical purposes (excluding products of food category 13.1) — 50 mg/kg
  • 13.4 Dietetic formulae for slimming purposes and weight reduction — 50 mg/kg
  • 13.5 Dietetic foods (e.g. supplementary foods for dietary use) excluding products of food categories — 300 mg/kg
  • 13.6 Food supplements — 300 mg/kg
  • 14.1.4 Water-based flavoured drinks, including "sport," “energy,” or "electrolyte" drinks and particulated drinks — 100 mg/kg
  • 14.2.2 Cider and perry — 200 mg/kg
  • 14.2.4 Wines (other than grape) — 200 mg/kg
  • 14.2.6 Distilled spirituous beverages containing more than 15% alcohol — 300 mg/kg
  • 14.2.7 Aromatized alcoholic beverages (e.g. beer, wine and spirituous cooler-type beverages, low-alcoholic refreshers) — 200 mg/kg
  • 15.1 Snacks - potato, cereal, flour or starch based (from roots and tubers, pulses and legumes) — 200 mg/kg
  • 15.2 Processed nuts, including coated nuts and nut mixtures (with e.g. dried fruit) — 100 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 132and 50 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Made by sulfonating indigo, which is itself now produced synthetically from petroleum-derived aniline rather than extracted from the indigo plant. No animal material is involved.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
860-22-0
InChIKey
JFVXEJADITYJHK-UHFFFAOYSA-L
PubChem
CID 2723854

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E132

INS number

  • 132

CAS registry number

  • 860-22-0

As it appears in regulation

  • FD&C Blue No. 2

Other names

  • Acid Blue 74
  • Acid Blue W
  • Acid Leather Blue IC
  • Airedale Blue IN
  • Amacid Brilliant Blue
  • Aniline Carmine powder
  • Atul Indigo Carmine
  • BLUDIGO
  • Bucacid indigotine B
  • C.I. ACID BLUE 74
  • C.I. Food Blue 1
  • C.I. Natural Blue 2
  • Canacert Indigo Carmine
  • CI Food Blue 1
  • Cilefa Blue R
  • disodium 3,3′-dioxo-2,2′-bi-indolylidene-5,5′-disulfonate
  • Disodium 5,5'-disulfoindigo
  • Dolkwal Indigo Carmine
  • E 132
  • Edicol Supra Blue X
  • FD & C blue no. 2
  • FD and C Blue No. 2
  • FD&C Blue No. 2
  • Food Blue No. 2
  • Grape Blue A
  • Grape Blue A Geigy
  • HD Indigo Carmine
  • Hexacert Blue No. 2
  • Holunder p-ac-5
  • HYDROXYPROPYL STARCH INDIGOTINE (INDIGO CARMINE)
  • Indigo carmine
  • Indigo Carmine A
  • Indigo Carmine AC
  • Indigo Carmine BP
  • Indigo Carmine Powder
  • Indigo Carmine X
  • Indigo carmine-
  • Indigocarmin
  • indigocarmine
  • Indigotin
  • Indigotin I
  • Indigotindisulfonate sodium
  • Indigotine
  • Indigotine (Indigo carmine)
  • Indigotine 85%
  • Indigotine B
  • Indigotine Blue LZ
  • Indigotine Conc. Powder
  • Indigotine disodium salt
  • Indigotine I
  • Indigotine IA
  • Indigotine Lake
  • Indigotine N
  • Indocarmine F
  • Intense Blue
  • Maple Indigo Carmine
  • Mitsui Indigo Carmine
  • Murabba
  • Sachsischblau
  • San-ei Indigo Carmine
  • Sodium 3,3'-dioxo-[2,2'-biindolinylidene]-5,5'-disulfonate
  • Sodium indigo-5,5'-bisulfonate
  • Sodium indigotindisulfonate
  • Soluble Indigo
  • Usacert Blue No. 2

Systematic names

  • disodium;(2E)-3-oxo-2-(3-oxo-5-sulfonato-1H-indol-2-ylidene)-1H-indole-5-sulfonate

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
TypeValuePopulationAssessed byOpinion
ADI5 mg/kg bw/dayconsumersEFSAnot identified in the dataset

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
  • 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/fd-and-c-blue-no-2.json