Spirulina extract

Used as a colour.

Spirulina extract is a blue colour obtained from cyanobacteria, and one of the few blues available from a biological source. It is used in confectionery, ice cream and drinks, and was approved in the United States in 2013 partly because natural blues are so scarce.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Spirulina 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 AdministrationPermitted21 CFR 73.530retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 134retrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Extracted with water from dried Arthrospira platensis biomass grown in culture. The colour is phycocyanin, a protein-pigment complex, which makes it sensitive to heat and acid.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Every name it appears under

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

As it appears in regulation

  • Spirulina extract

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 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/spirulina-extract.json