colorant

Carmine

A red pigment made by binding aluminium and related metals to carminic acid so that it dissolves poorly in water (a "lake"). International and EU food-additive specifications describe it as an aluminium hydroxide lake with an estimated aluminium-to-carminic-acid ratio of about 1:2.

日本語版

Claims and evidence (9)

The limitations noted for some sources are recorded in Japanese only — see the Japanese edition.

Carmine ・producesJECFA/EU specifications describe it as an aluminium hydroxide lake with an estimated aluminium-to-carminic-acid ratio of 1:2, existing as a mixed salt with calcium, sodium, potassium or ammoniumcontextual

Scope: as defined in JECFA/EU compositional specifications

States that carmine is carminic acid rendered insoluble ("laked") with aluminium, and that JECFA/EU specifications describe it as an aluminium hydroxide lake with an estimated 1:2 aluminium-to-carminic-acid ratio, present as a mixed salt with calcium, sodium, potassium or ammonium; carmine is said to contain about 20-50% carminic acid.
Source: コチニール色素・カルミン摂取による食物アレルギー (穐山浩, 杉本直樹, 2014) ・p.523 ・textbook ・ checked against the source by AI
Carmine ・propertyreported to stay magenta and unaffected by protein, unlike the carminic-acid solution, which changes colour with the pH shift protein addition causessupported

Scope: experiments dyeing milk, surimi and minced meat, and aqueous solutions with added protein (MFP, WPI, SPI, casein)

Reports that surimi, minced meat and milk dyed with carminic acid turned light purple, red and grey-green respectively, whereas with the carminic aluminium lake surimi and milk turned magenta and minced meat red; the carminic-acid solution's colour shifted with the pH rise caused by added protein, but the lake solution's colour was unaffected by protein.
Source: Effects of different food ingredients on the color and absorption spectrum of carminic acid and carminic aluminum lake (Liu, Q.; He, Z.; Zeng, M.; Qin, F.; Wang, Z.; et al., 2020) ・Abstract / 3.2 (Effects of protein) ・experimental ・ checked against the source by AI
Carmine ・regulationupheld the ADI of 5 mg carmine (containing ~50% carminic acid)/kg bw/day set by the SCF in 1983, re-expressed as 2.5 mg carminic acid/kg bw/daycontextual

Scope: EFSA's 2015 re-evaluation

States that cochineal, carminic acid and carmines had been previously evaluated by both JECFA and the SCF, both establishing an ADI of 5 mg/kg bw/day, and that this re-evaluation found no reason to revise that ADI, expressing it as 2.5 mg carminic acid/kg bw/day.
Source: Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluation of cochineal, carminic acid, carmines (E 120) as a food additive (EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS), 2015) ・Abstract ・institutional summary ・ checked against the source by AI
Carmine ・causesreported to be able to provoke allergic reactions in some individuals via occupational exposure, skin contact, or ingestion in food and drinkcontextual

Scope: based on multiple published case reports of asthma, rhinitis, urticaria and anaphylaxis

Reports case evidence of allergic reactions from occupational exposure, dermal contact and ingestion of coloured food/drink, with an immunologically mediated mechanism demonstrated, and concludes that cochineal extract, carmines, and possibly carminic acid may provoke allergic reactions in some individuals.
Source: Cochineal Extract, Carmine, and Carminic Acid (WHO Food Additives Series 46) (Greig, J.B. (first draft); JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives)) ・"3. COMMENTS" / "4. EVALUATION" ・institutional summary ・ checked against the source by AI
Carmine ・causesa roughly 38-40 kDa glycoprotein derived from the cochineal insect, rather than carminic acid itself, is considered one cause of the IgE-mediated allergic reactioncontextual

Scope: studies using serum from Japanese patients with immediate-type allergy

Describes finding a roughly 40 kDa protein reactive with the serum of patients who developed symptoms after drinking cochineal-coloured beverages, and subsequent identification of cDNA encoding an insect-derived secreted glycoprotein of about 38 kDa; concludes the allergy is considered to arise not from carminic acid itself but partly from cochineal-insect protein that manufacturing cannot fully remove.
Source: コチニール色素・カルミン摂取による食物アレルギー (穐山浩, 杉本直樹, 2014) ・p.525-526 ・textbook ・ checked against the source by AI
Carmine ・regulationin Japan, cochineal extract is an authorised existing food additive, but carmine is not permitted in food and may be used only in quasi-drugs and cosmeticscontextual

Scope: under Japan's Food Sanitation Act and Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Act

States that cochineal extract is listed on the existing food additive list under the Food Sanitation Act and may be used as a food additive, but carmine, being produced by a chemical laking reaction, is not regarded as a natural substance and is not currently permitted as a food additive; carmine is listed with cochineal extract under the quasi-drug ingredient specifications and may be used in quasi-drugs and cosmetics.
Source: コチニール色素・カルミン摂取による食物アレルギー (穐山浩, 杉本直樹, 2014) ・p.522-523 ・textbook ・ checked against the source by AI
Carmine ・regulationin many other countries, cochineal extract and carmine are not distinguished and both are permitted in food additives, pharmaceutical excipients, quasi-drugs and cosmeticscontextual

Scope: the treatment in Europe and the US, contrasted with Japan

Contradicts: States that in Europe, the US and elsewhere, both cochineal extract and carmine are widely permitted in food additives, pharmaceutical excipients, quasi-drugs and cosmetics, and that the EU manages them together, undifferentiated, as E120.
Source: コチニール色素・カルミン摂取による食物アレルギー (穐山浩, 杉本直樹, 2014) ・p.523 ・textbook ・ checked against the source by AI
Carmine ・regulationthe possibility of allergenicity was reviewed at the 55th JECFA meeting in 2000, concluding that a warning was warranted; the EU's 2000 food-labelling directive requires carmine to be declared as an ingredient, and the US FDA, after a 2006 evaluation, brought labelling requirements for cochineal extract and carmine into force on 5 January 2011contextual
States that JECFA reviewed the allergenic potential of cochineal extract and carmine at its 55th meeting in 2000, concluding a warning was needed for foods and drinks containing them and revising the specifications; the EU's 2000 food-labelling directive requires carmine to be listed among ingredients; the US FDA evaluated cochineal extract and carmine in 2006, judged them to contain allergens for some groups, and brought labelling requirements into force on 5 January 2011.
Source: コチニール色素・カルミン摂取による食物アレルギー (穐山浩, 杉本直樹, 2014) ・p.526-527 ・textbook ・ checked against the source by AI
Carmine ・regulationon 11 May 2012, Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency issued a public alert after receiving case reports of anaphylaxis linked to foods containing cochineal extractcontextual

Scope: regulatory response within Japan

States that on 11 May 2012, Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency, having received reports of case studies of anaphylaxis after consuming foods containing cochineal extract, issued a public alert on cochineal extract.
Source: コチニール色素・カルミン摂取による食物アレルギー (穐山浩, 杉本直樹, 2014) ・p.522 ・textbook ・ checked against the source by AI

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