Vegetable carbon
1333-86-4 · 16291-96-6 (Parent) · 2P3VWU3H10 · 4XYU5U00C4 · BLACK 2 · Black, Carbon · Carbon 12 · CARBON BLACK [HSDB] · Carbon, Vitreous · CARBONEUM · D&C BLACK NO. 2 [II] · DC BLACK NO. 2 · E 153 · Elemental Carbon · Printex 90 · Supercarbovar · SUPERSORBON S1 · Texas · Torch Brand · Ucet · Ukarb · UNIPURE BLACK LC 902 · UNIPURE BLACK LC 902 GRAN · United · Vegetable black · Vegetable carbon · VEGETABLE CARBON (E 153) · Vegetable carbon Black · Velvetex · Vulcan · Witco · Wyex · E153 · Vegetable carbon · Aktívne uhlie · Augalinės anglys · Augogle · Biljni ugljen · Carbone vegetale · Carbón vegetal · Carvão vegetal · CHARBON VÉGÉTAL · Charbon végétal médicinal · Cărbune vegetal · KARBONJU TAL-ĦXEJJEX · Karbonju veġetali · Kasviperäinen lääkehiili · Növényi szén · Pflanzenkohle · Plantaardige koolstof · RASTLINNÉ UHLIE · rastlinsko oglje · Rostlinná uhlíková čerň · Taimne süsi · Vegetabiliskt kol · Vegetabilsk kul · Vegetable carbon · Węgiel roślinny · Φυτικός άνθρακας · Растителен въгленE number E153CAS 1333-86-4
Listed as a colour by Canada and the EU.
Listed as colours (CA, EU)
- Canada: Food colour — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3)
- European Union: Colours — Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II, Part B, 1. Colours (consolidated text 02008R1333-20260818)
Vegetable carbon is a black colour made by charring plant material. It is the dark line through the middle of Morbier cheese — once a layer of ash, now permitted in the EU in that cheese specifically — and it colours liquorice and some black confectionery.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia and New Zealand | Permitted, with conditions | 47 food categories no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) Show every food category
| Food Standards Code, Schedule 15, S15—5and 46 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-17 |
| Canada | Permitted | no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) 3 permitted uses Show every permitted use
| Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3)and 2 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-17 |
| European Union | Permitted, with conditions | 40 food categories Show every food category
| Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex IIand 39 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-18 |
| Great Britain | Permitted, with conditions | 47 food categories Show every food category
| Assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008and 46 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-18 |
| Japan | No 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 Korea | No 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 States | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. | ||
| Codex Alimentarius | Not 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 |
| European Union | — | 40 quantum satis |
| Great Britain | — | 2 several limits, 45 quantum satis |
No regulator sets a figure for Vegetable carbon. 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
Produced by carbonising plant material such as wood, coconut shells or peat at high temperature. The EU requires this colour to be of vegetable origin, so it contains no bone char.
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.
- CAS registry number
- 1333-86-4
- InChIKey
- ZBGANAZYHMVKTA-UHFFFAOYSA-N
- PubChem
- CID 172866199
The two specifications, compared
The European Union sets identity and purity by regulation; JECFA publishes its own through FAO, advisory until a country adopts it. Both documents are below in full. These are the parameters each puts a number on.
| Parameter | European Union | JECFA |
|---|---|---|
| Assay | no less than 95 % | no less than 95 % |
| Loss on drying | no more than 12 % | no more than 12 % |
| Lead | no more than 2 mg/kg | no more than 2 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | no more than 3 mg/kg | no more than 3 mg/kg |
| Mercury | no more than 1 mg/kg | — |
| Cadmium | no more than 1 mg/kg | — |
The two documents state the same figures for every parameter compared here.
How the EU defines it
The legal specification an additive must meet to be sold as this E number in the EU — what it is, how it may be made, and the purity it must reach. From Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012.
E 153 Vegetable carbon
Vegetable activated carbon is produced by the carbonisation of vegetable material such as wood, cellulose residues, peat and coconut and other shells. The activated carbon thus produced is milled by a roller mill and the resulting highly activated powdered carbon is treated by a cyclone. The fine fractio40800n from the cyclone is purified by hydrochloric acid washing, neutralised and then dried. The resulting product is what is known traditionally as vegetable black. Products with a higher colouring power are produced from the fine fraction by a further cyclone treatment or by extra milling, followed by acid washing, neutralising and drying. It consists essentially of finely divided carbon. It may contain minor amounts of nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen. Some moisture may be absorbed on the product after manufacture.
Synonyms: Vegetable black
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Colour Index No
- 77266
- Einecs
- 231-153-3
- Chemical name
- Carbon
- Chemical formula
- C
- Atomic weight
- 12,01
- Assay
- Content not less than 95 % of carbon calculated on an anhydrous and ash-free basis
- Loss on drying
- Not more than 12 % (120 °C 4 h)
- Description
- Black, odourless powder
Identification
- Solubility
- Insoluble in water and organic solvents
- Burning
- When heated to redness it burns slowly without a flame
Purity criteria
- Ash (Total)
- Not more than 4,0 % (ignition temperature: 625 °C)
- Arsenic
- Not more than 3 mg/kg
- Lead
- Not more than 2 mg/kg
- Mercury
- Not more than 1 mg/kg
- Cadmium
- Not more than 1 mg/kg
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- Benzo(a)pyrene less than 50 μg/kg in the extract obtained by extraction of 1 g of the product with 10 g pure cyclohexane in a continuous extraction.
- Alkali soluble matter
- The filtrate obtained by boiling 2 g of the sample with 20 ml N sodium hydroxide and filtering shall be colourless
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.
INS 153 Vegetable Carbon
Produced by the carbonization of vegetable material such as wood, cellulose residues, peat and coconut and other shells; the raw material is carbonized at high temperatures; consists essentially of finely divided carbon; may contain minor amounts of nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen. Some moisture may be absorbed on the product after manufacture. It may be activated at high temperature in presence of steam or carbon dioxide.
Synonyms: Vegetable black, INS No. 153 Vegetable black
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Specification history
- Prepared at the 37th JECFA (1990), published in FNP 52 (1992). Metals and arsenic specifications revised at the 59th JECFA (2002). No ADI was allocated at the 31st JECFA (1987)
- Chemical names
- Carbon
- Chemical formula
- C
- Formula weight
- 12.01
- Assay
- Not less than 95% calculated on a dried and ash-free basis
- DESCRIPTION
- Black, odourless powder
- FUNCTIONAL USES
- Colour
- METHOD OF ASSAY
- Measure total carbon in a dried sample by one of several methods or commercial instruments for carbon analysis, such as, instruments for C,H,O determinations or combustion/gravimetric carbon analysis. Dry the sample at 120 o for 4 h before taking an accurately weighed analytical sample of an amount suitable for the specific method or instrument.
Identification
- Solubility (Vol. 4)
- Insoluble in water; insoluble in organic solvents
- Burning
- When heated to redness it burns slowly without a flame
Purity criteria
- Loss on drying (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 12% (120 o , 4 h)
- Acidity or alkalinity
- To 2.0 g add 40 ml of water and boil for 5 min. Cool, restore to the original volume with carbon dioxide-free water and filter. Reject the first 20 ml of the filtrate. To 10 ml of the filtrate add 0.25 ml of bromothymol blue solution TS and 0.25 ml of 0.02 N sodium hydroxide. The solution is blue. Not more than 0.75 ml of 0.02 N hydrochloric acid is required to change the colour of the indicator to yellow.
- Ash (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 4% Proceed as directed for Ash (total) using 625 o as the ignition temperature
- Alkali soluble coloured substance
- The filtrate obtained by boiling 2 g of the sample with 20 ml N sodium hydroxide and filtering shall be colourless
- Higher aromatic
- The extract obtained by extraction of 1 g of the product with 10 g pure
- hydrocarbons
- cyclohexane in a continuous extraction apparatus shall be colourless, and the fluorescence of the extract in ultraviolet light is not more intense than that of the reference solution containing 0.100 mg of quinine sulfate in 1000 ml of 0.01 N sulphuric acid.
- 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.”
Every name it appears under
60 recorded names. A label may use any of them.
E number
- E153
CAS registry number
- 1333-86-4
As it appears in regulation
- Vegetable carbon
Other names
- 16291-96-6 (Parent)
- 2P3VWU3H10
- 4XYU5U00C4
- BLACK 2
- Black, Carbon
- Carbon 12
- CARBON BLACK [HSDB]
- Carbon, Vitreous
- CARBONEUM
- D&C BLACK NO. 2 [II]
- DC BLACK NO. 2
- E 153
- Elemental Carbon
- Printex 90
- Supercarbovar
- SUPERSORBON S1
- Texas
- Torch Brand
- Ucet
- Ukarb
- UNIPURE BLACK LC 902
- UNIPURE BLACK LC 902 GRAN
- United
- Vegetable black
- Vegetable carbon
- VEGETABLE CARBON (E 153)
- Vegetable carbon Black
- Velvetex
- Vulcan
- Witco
- Wyex
The EU re-evaluation programme
Every additive authorised in the EU before 20 January 2009 was put back through EFSA by Commission Regulation (EU) No 257/2010, and this one is named in it. What the Regulation required is below; whether the opinion has since been published is not something this site records.
- To be evaluated by 31 December 2015. Named in Annex II, Part I, point 3 as “Vegetable carbon”, among the additives given priority within its class.
Hazard reference values
| Type | Value | Population | Assessed by | Opinion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADI | not allocated | — | JECFA | 1987 |
Evidence and how bodies read it
What assessing bodies concluded
Each conclusion is paraphrased in the body's own framing, from the published opinion linked beneath it. Where bodies differ, both stand; this site does not adjudicate between them or add a view of its own.
EFSA 2012
The ANS Panel considered the data too limited to establish an ADI for vegetable carbon (E 153), but concluded that at reported use levels, vegetable carbon containing less than 1.0 µg/kg of residual carcinogenic PAHs (as benzo[a]pyrene) is not of safety concern. It suggested adding a limit for residual PAHs to the specifications.
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 E 153?
- E 153 is Vegetable carbon. Vegetable carbon is a black colour made by charring plant material. It is the dark line through the middle of Morbier cheese — once a layer of ash, now permitted in the EU in that cheese specifically — and it colours liquorice and some black confectionery.
- What is Vegetable carbon used for in food?
- It is listed as a colour — the role Canada and the EU assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
- Where is Vegetable carbon permitted?
- Of the seven regulators this site reads, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, the EU and Great Britain 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 Vegetable carbon vegan?
- Yes. Vegetable carbon 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
- eu retrieved 2026-10-18
- gb retrieved 2026-10-18
- euspecs retrieved 2026-10-18
- jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23
Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.
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