E104 — Quinoline Yellow
Why it’s used
A synthetic greenish-yellow dye used in the EU to color candy, soft drinks, and snack foods; in the US it is only permitted in drugs and cosmetics, not food.
Other names
D&C Yellow No. 10, C.I. 47005, Acid Yellow 3
Diet flags
Regulatory status
Not permitted for food use in the US; it is listed only as D&C Yellow No. 10 for drugs and cosmetics under 21 CFR 74.1706 and 74.2706. Source (2026-07-23)
Authorised EU-wide as E104 with an ADI of 0.5 mg/kg bw/day, but any food containing it must carry the label warning that it may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children, and it is excluded from several food categories (fresh produce, meat, dairy, infant foods). Source (2026-07-23)
Regulatory status by region
The FDA never approved quinoline yellow as a color additive for food — only for externally applied drugs and cosmetics (D&C Yellow No. 10). The EU, by contrast, permits it in food subject to a mandatory child-hyperactivity warning label. This is a genuine authorization gap rather than a difference in permitted-use conditions on an otherwise shared approval.
Following the 2007 Southampton study linking a mixture of synthetic dyes (including quinoline yellow) to hyperactivity in children, the EU added a mandatory warning-label requirement under Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex V. The US has no equivalent food authorization at all for this dye, so no comparable warning question arises there.
Found in these products
None of the products in our database currently contain E104.