Colours are substances that add or restore colour in a food. They are added to food for that purpose. This definition follows Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Union.
Vietnam regulates additives through a list of permitted additives (Circular 24/2019/TT-BYT, referencing international Codex standards); a substance not on the list is not permitted in Vietnam, and that is the first tier of the Yenzo Scale — see how levels are set.
High risk on Yenzo's scale. The cases at this level: it is not permitted in Vietnam (Circular 24/2019); neither JECFA nor EFSA has an ADI for it; a regulator withdrew it for safety reasons and no evaluator kept an ADI; nitrites and nitrates (EFSA 2023). How we score →
Moderate risk: moderate concern. How we score →
Some substances at this level carry an additional labelling warning in the EU (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008). Source: Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives, Annex V (consolidated text 18.08.2026)
Fun fact. Some red food colours come from insects. Cochineal, also called carmine (carminic acid, E120), is obtained from the scale insect Dactylopius coccus, which lives on Opuntia cactus plants. The insects are collected by hand, especially from their cactus hosts, on plantations in countries such as Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and the Spanish Canary Islands. This process was already practiced by the Inca and Aztec cultures (AD 1200 to 1520). The carmine colour is extracted from the insects and is an expensive colour. It is still applied today in cosmetics, paints, robes and foods such as the Campari aperitif and cocktail cherries. Source: Arts, cultural heritage, sciences, and micro-/bio-/technology: Impact of biomaterials and biocolorants from antiquity till today! (Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2024)
According to Yenzo's additive pages, E102 may be found in yellow soft drinks, sweets, jellies, cakes and snacks; E110 in orange-flavoured soft drinks, drink powders, sweets and cakes; E100 in instant noodles, margarine, cheese, ice cream and confectionery.
Labels usually write the group name with the INS number, for example “colour (102)”. A label may also write the E code, the INS code or the name of the substance. The same substance can be written in different ways.
Yenzo does not rank codes. Some codes of this group have a page on Yenzo: E100 (curcumin), E102 (tartrazine), E110 (sunset yellow FCF), E129 (allura red AC), E133 (brilliant blue FCF). Each of them has a row in Appendix 1 of Circular 24/2019/TT-BYT with the function “phẩm màu” (colour).
Updated 28 October 2026
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