Saffron

Listed as a colour by Canada and the US.

Listed as colours (CA, US) · flavour enhancers (US) · flavouring agents and adjuvants (US)

Saffron is the dried stigma of the saffron crocus, used as both a colour and a flavour. It is the most expensive spice by weight, which limits its use as a colouring to dishes where its flavour is also wanted.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Saffron 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 ZealandPermitted, with conditions

47 food categories

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

Show every food category
  • 0.2 Colourings — GMP
  • 0.3 Flavourings — GMP
  • 1.1.2 Liquid milk products and flavoured liquid milk — GMP
  • 1.2.2 Fermented milk products and rennetted milk products — GMP
  • 1.3 Condensed milk and evaporated milk — GMP
  • 1.4.2 Cream products (flavoured, whipped, thickened, sour cream etc) — GMP
  • 1.5 Dried milk, milk powder, cream powder — GMP
  • 1.6 Cheese and cheese products — GMP
  • 11.1.1 Rainbow sugar — GMP
  • 11.4 Tabletop sweeteners — GMP
  • 12.1.2 Reduced sodium salt mixture — GMP
  • 12.1.3 Salt substitute — GMP
  • 12.3 Vinegars and related products — GMP
  • 12.5 Yeast and yeast products — GMP
  • 12.6 Vegetable protein products — GMP
  • 13.3 Formulated meal replacements and formulated supplementary foods — GMP
  • 13.4 Formulated supplementary sports foods — GMP
  • 13.5 Food for special medical purposes — GMP
  • 14.1.1.2 Carbonated, mineralised and soda waters — GMP
  • 14.1.2.1 Fruit and vegetable juices — GMPFor juice separated by other than mechanical means only.
  • 14.1.2.2 Fruit and vegetable juice products — GMP
  • 14.1.3 Water based flavoured drinks — GMP
  • 14.1.4 Formulated Beverages — GMP
  • 14.2.3 Wine based drinks and reduced alcohol wines — GMP
  • 14.2.4.1 Fruit wine products and vegetable wine products — GMP
  • 14.2.5 Spirits and liqueurs — GMP
  • 14.3 Alcoholic beverages not included in item 14.2 — GMP
  • 2.1 Edible oils essentially free of water — GMPNot for olive oil.
  • 2.2.1.2 Butter products — GMP
  • 2.2.1.3 Margarine and similar products — GMP
  • 2.2.2 Oil emulsions (<80% oil) — GMP
  • 20 Foods not included in items 0 to 14 — GMP
  • 3 Ice cream and edible ices — GMP
  • 4.3 Processed fruits and vegetables — GMP
  • 5.1 Chocolate and cocoa products — GMPPermitted on the surface of chocolate only.
  • 5.2 Sugar confectionery — GMP
  • 5.4 Icings and frostings — GMP
  • 6.3 Processed cereal and meal products — GMP
  • 6.4 Flour products (including noodles and pasta) — GMP
  • 7 Breads and bakery products — GMP
  • 8.2 Processed meat, poultry and game products in whole cuts or pieces — GMP
  • 8.3 Processed comminuted meat, poultry and game products, other than products listed in item 8.3.2 — GMPNot for sausage or sausage meat containing raw, unprocessed meat.
  • 8.4 Edible casings — GMP
  • 8.5 Animal protein products — GMP
  • 9.2 Processed fish and fish products — GMP
  • 9.3 Semi preserved fish and fish products — GMP
  • 9.4 Fully preserved fish including canned fish products — GMP
Food Standards Code, Schedule 15, S15—5and 46 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-17
CanadaHealth CanadaPermitted

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

3 permitted uses

Show every permitted use
  • In: Apple and (naming the fruit or fruits) jam; Bread; Butter; 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; (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: Good Manufacturing Practice. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item S.1(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: Good Manufacturing Practice. Amendment notices: NOM/ADM-0122. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item S.1(b)
  • In: Unstandardized foods. Purpose: Food colour. Limit: Good Manufacturing Practice. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item S.1(c)
Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3)and 2 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 AdministrationPermitted21 CFR 73.500retrieved 2026-10-17
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.

Australia and New Zealand—47 GMP
Canada—3 GMP
United States—1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Saffron. That is not an absence of control: where the listing says quantum satis or good manufacturing practice, the quantity is limited to what the effect requires.

What it is made from

Hand-harvested stigmas of Crocus sativus. The yellow colour comes from crocin, a water-soluble carotenoid, which is unusual among carotenoids in dissolving readily in water.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

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.

Saffron

Saffron is the dried stigma of flowers of Crocus sativus L.

Synonyms: Crocus, French Saffron, Spanish Saffron, Safraan, Keshar, CI Natural Yellow 6, C.I. (1975) No. 75100 CI (1975) No. 75100; CI Natural Yellow 6; Crocus; French Saffron; Keshar; Safraan; Spanish Saffron

Assay, identification and purity criteria

Description and assay

Specification history
Prepared at the 29th JECFA (1985), published in FNP 34 (1986) and in FNP 52 (1992). Metals and arsenic specifications revised at the 59th JECFA (2002). Regarded as food ingredient rather than food additive at 29th JECFA (1985)
Chemical names
The main colouring matters are crocin: 8,8'-diapocarotene-8,8'-dioic acid bis (6-O-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-D-glucopyranosyl ester, and crocetin: 8,8'- diapocarotene-8,8'-dioic acid.
C.A.S. number
42553-65-1 (Crocin) 27876-94-4 (Crocetin)
Chemical formula
C 44 H 64 O 24 (Crocin) C 20 H 24 O 4 (Crocetin)
Formula weight
976.70 (Crocin) 328.41 (Crocetin)
Assay
Saffron normally contains between 4-6% crocin and crocetin, as specified by the vendor.
DESCRIPTION
Golden yellow or brown powder, filaments or cake; characteristic odour. Information is required on methods of analysis for ash insoluble in dilute HCl, and water insoluble matter.
FUNCTIONAL USES
Colour, flavouring agent

Identification

Colour in solvents
Saffron macerated with water imparts a yellow colour in the aqueous phase. It gives a pale yellow colour to ether or petroleum ether.
Identification of colouring matters
Passes test See description under TESTS
Colour comparison
0.1 g macerated for 3 h at ambient temperature in 50 ml water and filtered, gives a yellow colour of the same shade and intensity as a solution of 0.275 g of chromic anhydride dissolved in the same amount of water.
Test: Identification of colouring matters
1. Sulfuric acid produces with the sample a blue colouration which gradually changes to violet, cherry-red finally to brown. 2. To a solution of 0.1 g of diphenylamine in 20 ml of sulfuric acid and 4 ml of water in a shallow porcelaine dish, add a small amount of the sample. The immediate colouration produced is blue, which turns rapidly to brown-red. In presence of nitrates the blue colouration persists. (The artificial colours generally produce an intense red or orange colour and the substitutes of saffron do not produce the blue colour). Allow the nitrated preparation to stand for a minute, cover it with a cover slip, and remove the excess of liquid with a piece of filter paper. Examine under the microscope first at a magnification of 50x then at 100x. The sample is coloured blue-green. The grains of pollen take a blue tint and their diameter appears increased. 3. Boil 200 mg saffron in 200 ml of 1% KOH for 2 min, cool, acidify with dil. H 2 SO 4 , add 50 ml benzene and shake vigorously. Wash benzene extract free of acid and dry over anhydrous Na 2 SO 4 . Identify crocetin by adsorption on column of aluminia. Crocetin is adsorbed strongly and forms a band of brilliant yellow which is not eluted by benzene, petroleum ether, chloroform, acetone, ethyl and methyl alcohols. After clearing the column with benzene and then chloroform, 5 ml of Carr-Price reagent turns the band violet.

Purity criteria

Loss on drying (Vol. 4)
Not more than 14% (105 o to constant weight, about 4 h)
Spectrophotometry (Vol. 4)
Absorption spectrum of saffron in methanol has maxima at 435, and 250 nm.
Total ash (Vol. 4)
Not more than 8%
Water insoluble matter (Vol. 4)
Not more than 45% Information required on method of analysis
Acid insoluble ash
Not more than 1% (dilute HCl) Information required on method of analysis
Thin layer chromatography
Spot 20 μl of 5% aqueous extract of the sample on a silica gel G plate, using a mixture of n-butanol, acetic acid and water (4:1:2 by volume) as developing solvent. Identify the yellow sports of crocin (or crocetin, if any) with a genuine sample of saffron. No other spots are observed.
Nitrogen (Vol. 4)
Not more than 2%
Synthetic dyes
Basic dyes: To 1 g of the sample add 100 ml of 1% sodium hydroxide solution, and mix well. Extract 30 ml of this solution with 15 ml of ether. Then extract the ether layer twice with dilute acetic acid (5 ml); the dilute acetic acid layer does not contain any colour. Other acidic dyes: To 1 g of the sample add 1 ml of ammonia TS and 8 ml of water, and shake well. Discard an oily layer when separated. Proceed as directed under Paper Chromatography (Ascending Chromatography) using 2 μl of the solution as the sample solution, and a mixture of pyridine and ammonia TS (2:1 by volume) as the developing solvent. Stop the development when the solvent front has advanced about 15 cm from the point of application. No spot is observed at the solvent front after drying under daylight. If any spot is observed, it should be decolourized when sprayed with a solution of stannous chloride in hydrochloric acid (2 in 5).
Arsenic (Vol. 4)
Not more than 3 mg/kg
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.”

FAO JECFA Monograph 1 (2006)

Every name it appears under

1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.

As it appears in regulation

  • Saffron

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 Saffron?
Saffron is the dried stigma of the saffron crocus, used as both a colour and a flavour. It is the most expensive spice by weight, which limits its use as a colouring to dishes where its flavour is also wanted.
What is Saffron used for in food?
It is listed as a colour — the role Canada and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Saffron banned in Europe?
No. Saffron does not appear on the EU's list of authorised food additives, which is not the same as being banned: the EU permits an additive only where it has authorised it, and usually the reason for an absence is that no one applied. The EU has made no finding against this substance. It does mean it may not be used as a food additive in the EU today.
Where is Saffron permitted?
Of the seven regulators this site reads, Australia and New Zealand, Canada and the US permit it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
Is Saffron vegan?
Yes. Saffron is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Sources for this page

  • anz retrieved 2026-10-17
  • ca retrieved 2026-10-17
  • ecfr retrieved 2026-10-17
  • 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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