E165 — Gardenia Blue
Why it’s used
A natural blue color made by reacting genipin (extracted from gardenia fruit) with an amino acid; recently approved in the US for sports drinks, flavored water, and candy, but not yet authorised in the EU.
Other names
Genipin blue, Gardenia (genipin) blue
Diet flags
Regulatory status
Permanently listed as a color additive exempt from certification on July 14, 2025, for use in sports drinks, flavored/enhanced non-carbonated water, fruit drinks and ades, ready-to-drink teas, and hard and soft candy — not for general food use. Source (2026-07-23)
Not included in the EU-wide positive list of authorised food colors under Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II; an authorization petition is reportedly in progress but not yet decided. Source (2026-07-23)
Regulatory status by region
The FDA's July 2025 approval is limited to a specific list of beverage and candy categories, whereas gardenia blue has no EU authorization of any kind, so the divergence is a genuine authorization gap rather than a scope difference on a shared approval.
As of this writing, gardenia blue has no EU food-color authorization, while the FDA approved it for a defined set of US beverage and candy categories in July 2025.
Found in these products
None of the products in our database currently contain E165.