FD&C Red No. 40

E number E129INS 129CAS 25956-17-6

Used as a colour.

FD&C Red No. 40, known internationally as Allura Red AC, is the most widely used red food colouring in the United States. It is a synthetic azo dye and turns up in soft drinks, confectionery, breakfast cereals, baked goods and dairy desserts.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of FD&C Red No. 40 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 74.340retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

52 food categories

highest permitted level 300 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.1.4 Flavoured Fluid Milk Drinks — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2.2 Rind of ripened cheese — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.6.4 Processed cheese — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.6.5 Cheese analogues — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.7 Dairy-based desserts (e.g. pudding, fruit or flavoured yoghurt) — 300 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 — 300 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.5 — 100 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.7 Candied fruit — 100 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 — 300 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 — 300 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.4 Canned or bottled (pasteurized) or retort pouch vegetables (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), and seaweeds — 200 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 — 200 mg/kg
  • 05.1.3 Cocoa-based spreads, incl. fillings — 300 mg/kg
  • 05.1.4 Cocoa and chocolate products — 300 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
  • 06.3 Breakfast cereals, including rolled oats — 300 mg/kg
  • 06.5 Cereal and starch based desserts (e.g. rice pudding, tapioca pudding) — 300 mg/kg
  • 07.1.2 Crackers, excluding sweet crackers — 100 mg/kg
  • 07.1.3 Other ordinary bakery products (e.g. bagels, pita, English muffins) — 300 mg/kg
  • 07.2 Fine bakery wares (sweet, salty, savoury) and mixes — 300 mg/kg
  • 08.3.2 Heat-treated processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products — 25 mg/kg
  • 08.4 Edible casings (e.g. sausage casings) — 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
  • 09.2.5 Smoked, dried, fermented, and/or salted fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 300 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 — 300 mg/kg
  • 10.1 Fresh eggs — 100 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 — 100 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 — 150 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 129and 51 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Made by diazotising an aromatic amine and coupling it to a naphthalene sulfonate, both of which come from petroleum feedstocks. No animal-derived material is involved. Every batch sold in the United States must be certified by the FDA before use.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
25956-17-6
InChIKey
CEZCCHQBSQPRMU-UHFFFAOYSA-L
PubChem
CID 33258

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E129

INS number

  • 129

CAS registry number

  • 1016649-41-4
  • 25956-17-6

As it appears in regulation

  • FD&C Red No. 40

Other names

  • 763 - Colours
  • al-lura red ac
  • Allura Red
  • Allura Red 40
  • Allura Red AC
  • Allura Red AC (E 129)
  • Allura Red AC (Technical Grade)
  • Allura Red AC 100 microg/mL in Water
  • Allura Red AC 100 |Ig/mL in Water
  • Allura red AC dye
  • Allura Red AC, analytical standard
  • Allura Red AC, Dye content 80 %
  • ALLURA RED C.I.16035
  • C.I. Food Red 17
  • CCRIS 3493
  • CEZCCHQBSQPRMU-UHFFFAOYSA-L
  • CI 16035; Food Red 17; Fancy Red;
  • CI Food Red 17
  • CI-FOOD RED 17
  • Curry red
  • D&C RED NO. 40
  • Disodium 6-hydroxy-5-((6-methoxy-4-sulfo-m-tolyl)azo)-2-naphthalenesulfonate
  • E 129
  • F D & C RED #40 [VANDF]
  • F D & C RED #40 LAKE [VANDF]
  • F D & C RED NO. 40
  • Fancy Red
  • FD & C Red no. 40
  • FD and C Red No. 40
  • FD&C Red 40
  • FD&C Red No. 40
  • FDC Red 40
  • FDC Red 40 dye
  • FDC Red No. 40
  • Food red 17
  • Food Red No. 40
  • HSDB 7260
  • INS NO.129
  • INS-129
  • Japan Food Red No. 40
  • Japan Red 40
  • POXPUHKJGLHZEM-DJOSVPKASA-L
  • POXPUHKJGLHZEM-VIPPSAFOSA-L
  • Red 40
  • Red No. 40

Systematic names

  • 2-Naphthalenesulfonic acid, 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo)-, disodium salt
  • 2-Naphthalenesulfonic acid, 6-hydroxy-5-((6-methoxy-4-sulfo-m-tolyl)azo)-, disodium salt
  • 2-Naphthalenesulfonic acid, 6-hydroxy-5-[2-(2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)diazenyl]-, sodium salt (1:2)
  • 6-Hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo)-2-naphthalene- sulfonic acid, disodium salt
  • 6-Hydroxy-5-[(6-methoxy-4-sulfo-m- toly l)azo]-2-naphthalenesulfonic acid disodium
  • 6-Hydroxy-5-[2-(2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)diazenyl]-2-naphthalenesulfonic acid sodium
  • disodium (5E)-5-[(2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfonatophenyl)hydrazinylidene]-6-oxonaphthalene-2-sulfonate
  • Disodium 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-4-sulphonato-m-tolyl)azo)naphthalene-2-sulphonate
  • disodium 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfonatophenyl)diazenyl)naphthalene-2-sulfonate
  • Disodium 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo)-2-naphthalene- sulfonate
  • Disodium 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo)-2-naphthalenesulfonate
  • disodium 6-hydroxy-5-[(E)-(2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfonatophenyl)diazenyl]naphthalene-2-sulfonate
  • disodium;6-hydroxy-5-[(2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulonatophenyl)diazenyl]naphthalene-2-sulonate
  • sodium (E)-6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfonatophenyl)diazenyl)naphthalene-2-sulfonate
  • Sodium 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfonatophenyl)diazenyl)naphthalene-2-sulfonate

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
TypeValuePopulationAssessed byOpinion
ADI7 mg/kg bw/dayconsumersEFSAnot identified in the dataset

Evidence and how bodies read it

Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial

McCann D, Barrett A, Cooper A, Crumpler D, Dalen L, Grimshaw K, et al.. The Lancet. 2007 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61306-3

Design
RCT
Model
human
Dose
Two mixtures of four synthetic colours plus sodium benzoate, at doses chosen to reflect typical UK intakes, given in a drink; challenge and placebo periods.
Endpoint
Global hyperactivity aggregate, combining teacher and parent ratings with a computerised attention test.
Funding
UK Food Standards Agency

What it found. Reported a small increase in the composite hyperactivity measure in 3-year-olds and 8/9-year-olds during the additive-challenge periods compared with placebo. The authors described the effects as modest and variable between individuals.

Limitations. The additives were given as mixtures, so the result cannot be attributed to any single colour or to the benzoate. Effect sizes were small relative to the spread between children, adherence differed between age groups, and the trial measured behaviour over short challenge periods rather than long-term outcomes.

How different bodies read the evidence

Positions are paraphrased in each body's own framing. Where they differ, both stand; this site does not adjudicate between them.

  1. EFSA 2008

    Judged the trial to provide limited evidence of a small effect on activity and attention in some children, but held that the mixtures tested did not allow any effect to be attributed to an individual additive, and that the findings did not warrant changing the acceptable daily intakes.

    Action taken: Left intake limits unchanged

    Source document

  2. European Union (legislature) 2008

    Took the same evidence as grounds for a consumer-information measure rather than a change in permitted levels, requiring foods containing these colours to carry the statement that they 'may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children'.

    Action taken: Imposed a mandatory warning statement while leaving the additives authorised

    Source document

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.

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