No, caramel color is not bad for you. In fact, there are two reasons why caramel colors have been approved for use worldwide and are one of the most commonly used food colors: 1) they work in many applications; and 2) they are safe for human consumption.
Public health organizations and regulatory agencies around the world, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the World Health Organization (WHO), Codex Alimentarius, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and Health Canada (HC) , have all reviewed studies on caramel colors and deemed them safe for use in food and beverages. And because caramel colors are used at very low dosage rates and contain little nutritional value, caramel colors are not bad for you.
Some consumer advocacy groups have raised concerns about a chemical compound called 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) that can be present at very low levels in some types of caramel colors — specifically class III and IV caramel colors. This compound forms naturally during normal, everyday cooking processes — such as roasting coffee beans, baking bread, and caramelizing sugar — like when caramel colors are made. As a result, 4-MEI was added to California's Proposition 65 list.
These concerns came after a study showed an increased risk of cancer in mice when they consumed 4-MEI. However, this study is controversial. The levels of 4-MEI given to the mice as part of the study far exceeded the normal amount humans would consume with food or beverages — a person would have to drink thousands of cans of cola every single day throughout their life to reach the amounts consumed in the study.
Food regulatory bodies around the world have reviewed information on caramel color and still deem it safe to use in foods and beverages. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that it “has no reason to believe that there are any immediate or short-term health risks presented by 4-MEI at the levels expected in food.”
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) stated that, in its assessment, “the highest exposure level to 4-MEI that could result from the consumption of foods containing E150c [caramel color class III] and E150d [caramel color class IV] did not give rise to concern.”
In other words, the typical everyday consumption of caramel colors is not bad for you and does not present a health concern. The FDA does not recommend that you change your diet because of concerns about 4-MEI.
To learn more about ingredients in your food, check out the International Food Information Council website and search for “caramel color.”
Or you can explore more about caramel color from both a research and regulatory perspective.
