Paprika extract

INS 160c(ii)CAS 84603-55-4

Used as a colour.

Paprika extract gives orange to red, used in cheese, snacks, sauces and processed meat. The colour compounds are capsanthin and capsorubin; the pungency of chilli is a separate compound and is normally removed.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Paprika extract by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
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 / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

71 food categories

highest permitted level 20,000 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.1.4 Flavoured Fluid Milk Drinks — 30 mg/kg
  • 01.3.2 Beverage whiteners — 5 mg/kg
  • 01.4.4 Cream analogues — 5 mg/kg
  • 01.5.2 Milk and cream powder analogues — 5 mg/kg
  • 01.6.1 Unripened cheese — 15 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2.1 Ripened cheese, includes rind — 30 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2.2 Rind of ripened cheese — 30 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2.3 Cheese powder (for reconstitution; e.g. for cheese sauces) — 140 mg/kg
  • 01.6.4.1 Plain processed cheese — 70 mg/kg
  • 01.6.4.2 Flavoured processed cheese, including containing fruit, vegetables, meat, etc. — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.6.5 Cheese analogues — 70 mg/kg
  • 01.7 Dairy-based desserts (e.g. pudding, fruit or flavoured yoghurt) — 60 mg/kg
  • 02.2.2 Fat spreads, dairy fat spreads and blended spreads — 40 mg/kg
  • 02.3 Fat emulsions mainly of type oil-in-water, including mixed and/or flavoured products based on fat emulsions — 65 mg/kg
  • 02.4 Fat-based desserts excluding dairy-based dessert products of food category 01.7 — 50 mg/kg
  • 03.0 Edible ices, including sherbet and sorbet — 55 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.11 Fruit fillings for pastries — 50 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.5 — 50 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.7 Candied fruit — 50 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.8 Fruit preparations, including pulp, purees, fruit toppings and coconut milk — 50 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.9 Fruit-based desserts, incl. fruit-flavoured water-based desserts — 80 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 — 100 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 — 50 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.5 Vegetable (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweed, and nut and seed purees and spreads (e.g. peanut butter) — 50 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
  • 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, — 20 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.8 Cooked or fried vegetables (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), and seaweeds — 50 mg/kg
  • 05.1.3 Cocoa-based spreads, incl. fillings — 95 mg/kg
  • 05.1.4 Cocoa and chocolate products — 95 mg/kg
  • 05.1.5 Imitation chocolate, chocolate substitute products — 95 mg/kg
  • 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4 — 100 mg/kg
  • 05.3 Chewing gum — 150 mg/kg
  • 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces — 100 mg/kg
  • 06.3 Breakfast cereals, including rolled oats — 120 mg/kg
  • 06.4.3 Pre-cooked pastas and noodles and like products — 120 mg/kg
  • 06.5 Cereal and starch based desserts (e.g. rice pudding, tapioca pudding) — 100 mg/kg
  • 06.6 Batters (e.g. for breading or batters for fish or poultry) — 200 mg/kg
  • 06.7 Pre-cooked or processed rice products, including rice cakes (Oriental type only) — 160 mg/kg
  • 06.8.1 Soybean-based beverages — 15 mg/kg
  • 06.8.4.2 — 20 mg/kg
  • 06.8.8 Other soybean protein products — 5 mg/kg
  • 07.1.2 Crackers, excluding sweet crackers — 100 mg/kg
  • 07.1.4 Bread-type products, including bread stuffing and bread crumbs — 100 mg/kg
  • 07.2 Fine bakery wares (sweet, salty, savoury) and mixes — 90 mg/kg
  • 08.2.2 Heat-treated processed meat, poultry, and game products in whole pieces or cuts — 20 mg/kg
  • 08.3.2 Heat-treated processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products — 40 mg/kg
  • 08.4 Edible casings (e.g. sausage casings) — 20,000 mg/kg
  • 09.2.1 Frozen fish, fish fillets, and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 180 mg/kg
  • 09.2.2 Frozen battered fish, fish fillets and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 200 mg/kg
  • 09.2.3 Frozen minced and creamed fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 20 mg/kg
  • 09.2.4.1 Cooked fish and fish products — 180 mg/kg
  • 09.2.4.2 Cooked molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 180 mg/kg
  • 09.2.4.3 Fried fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 180 mg/kg
  • 09.2.5 Smoked, dried, fermented, and/or salted fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 30 mg/kg
  • 09.3.3 Salmon substitutes, caviar and other fish roe products — 350 mg/kg
  • 09.4 Fully preserved, including canned or fermented fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 150 mg/kg
  • 12.2.2 Seasonings and condiments — 350 mg/kg
  • 12.4 Mustards — 70 mg/kg
  • 12.5 Soups and broths — 85 mg/kg
  • 12.6.1 Emulsified sauces and dips (e.g. mayonnaise, salad dressing, onion dips) — 150 mg/kg
  • 12.6.2 Non-emulsified sauces (e.g. ketchup, cheese sauce, cream sauce, brown gravy) — 150 mg/kg
  • 12.6.3 Mixes for sauces and gravies — 150 mg/kg
  • 12.7 Salads (e.g. macaroni salad, potato salad) and sandwich spreads excluding cocoa-and nut-based spreads of food categories 04.2.2.5 and 05.1.3 — 50 mg/kg
  • 13.6 Food supplements — 100 mg/kg
  • 14.1.4 Water-based flavoured drinks, including "sport," “energy,” or "electrolyte" drinks and particulated drinks — 30 mg/kg
  • 14.2.2 Cider and perry — 10 mg/kg
  • 14.2.4 Wines (other than grape) — 10 mg/kg
  • 14.2.7 Aromatized alcoholic beverages (e.g. beer, wine and spirituous cooler-type beverages, low-alcoholic refreshers) — 10 mg/kg
  • 15.1 Snacks - potato, cereal, flour or starch based (from roots and tubers, pulses and legumes) — 250 mg/kg
  • 15.2 Processed nuts, including coated nuts and nut mixtures (with e.g. dried fruit) — 100 mg/kg
  • 15.3 Snacks - fish based — 100 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 160c(ii)and 70 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Extracted with solvent or carbon dioxide from the dried fruit of Capsicum annuum.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
84603-55-4

Every name it appears under

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

INS number

  • 160c(ii)

CAS registry number

  • 465-42-9
  • 470-38-2
  • 84603-55-4

Other names

  • (3R,3'S,5'R)-3,3'-Dihydroxy-beta, kappa-caroten-6'-one
  • CAPSA
  • capsanthin
  • capsanthine
  • Capsicum extract
  • Capsicum oleoresin
  • capsorubin
  • Extract of capsicum,
  • Oleoresin capsicum
  • Oleoresin paprika
  • PAPRIKA EXTRACT

Systematic names

  • (2E,4E,6E,8E,10E,12E,14E,16E,18E)-1,20-bis[(1R,4S)-4-hydroxy-1,2, 2-trimethylcyclopentyl]-4,8,13,17-tetramethylicosa-2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16, 18-nonaene-1,20-dione
  • (2E,4E,6E,8E,10E,12E,14E,16E,18E)-19-[(4R)-4-hydroxy-2,6,6-trimethylcyclohexen-1-yl]-1-[(1R,4S)-4-hydroxy-1,2,2-trimethylcyclopentyl]-4,8,13,17-tetramethylnonadeca-2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18-nonaen-1-one
  • capsicum oleoresin

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
TypeValuePopulationAssessed byOpinion
ADI24 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

  • 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/paprika-extract.json