Yellow Orange Color (Sunset Yellow)

Sunset Yellow FCF, known by the brand name E110, is a type of artificial food coloring that comes in yellow-orange powder form. One of the most widely used artificial edible colors in the food additive industry, such as Cheetos orange color, in cosmetics and medicine industry, such as in multivitamin tablets. The most widely used synthetic color is sunset yellow, which is used in food products such as Cheetos and Fanta soda. Its full chemical name is Disodium 2-hydroxy-1-(4-sulfonatophenylazo) naftalene-6-sulfonate. It is an azo pigment. It is soluble in water and has little solubility in ethanol. Sunset Yellow is also known as Edible Yellow No. 5 and FD & C Yellow No. 6.

Sunset Yellow is used as an edible and artificial colorant in foods, drugs and cosmetics, producing a pleasant orange color. Compared to natural dyes, synthetic dyes have several advantages, including higher structural strength, more economical aspects, heat resistance, lightness, consistent quality, and adequate supply. The amount of use of this substance is about 6 mg/1 ml (Huang et al., 2002) and less than 50 mg/1 kg (Dinch et al., 2002).

The maximum allowed concentration of E110 in food is 50 mg/1 kg. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends 225 mg as the minimum daily intake for a 60 kg person.