Focus Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Colors

The term FD C color, often seen on ingredients labels, refers to food, drug, and cosmetic colors. These are organic compounds (as opposed to inorganic pigments, such as titanium dioxide) that are so intense in color that it takes only very tiny amounts to color something, and thus they can be used in concentrations so minute that they are safe for consumption. 

As further described in the section on beta-carotene, organic dyes owe their colors to resonance structures in the molecule, where charges are free to move in the molecule at frequencies that fall in the range of visible light. 

There are only seven non-natural (artificial) colors certified for consumption in the United States  

Other FD C colors are used in drug coatings and cosmetics. 

If one of the above colors is used in a food product, it must be explicitly mentioned in the ingredients list. If the label does not name the compound specifically, but simply says something like contains artificial color, then you know it does not contain one of the colors listed above. 

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