Food additive databasecolorChecked 2026-10-02

Food Green No.3 (Fast Green FCF) and its Aluminum Lake 食用緑色3号（別名ファストグリーンFCF）及びそのアルミニウムレーキ

Designated additiveNot on the EU additive list

Purpose: color
On the label: “着色料（緑3）” (coloring (Green 3)), “着色料（緑色3号）” (coloring (Green No. 3)), “緑色3号” (Green No. 3), “食用緑色3号” (Food Green No. 3), “着色料（ファストグリーンFCF）” (coloring (Fast Green FCF))
Name in the List of Designated Additives: 食用緑色3号（別名ファストグリーンFCF）及びそのアルミニウムレーキ (No. 225)

In Japan

A tar-based dye, a designated additive used to color food, also called Fast Green FCF. Under the standards for use, it may not be used in 18 kinds of food, including castella sponge cake (kasutera), soy sauce, miso, noodles, meat, fresh fish and shellfish, and vegetables (there is no upper limit on the amount for other foods).
Because it is a coloring, the purpose name must be written alongside. If the name contains the character “色”, as in “緑色3号” (Green No. 3), the word “着色料” (coloring) can be omitted, but with the short name “緑3” (Green 3) it is written “着色料（緑3）” (coloring (Green 3)) (Food Labeling Standards). The aluminum lake can also be written under names such as “緑色3号”, “緑3”, and “ファストグリーンFCF” (Fast Green FCF).

Japan's standards for use

Foods in which it may not be used: castella sponge cake (kasutera), roasted soybean flour (kinako), pickled fish, pickled whale meat, kelp (kombu), soy sauce, meat, pickled meat, sponge cake
Foods in which it may not be used (continued): fresh fish and shellfish (including whale meat), tea, nori (laver), marmalade, legumes, miso, noodles (including wonton), vegetables, wakame
For foods other than the above, no upper limit on the amount used is set
The same standards apply to the aluminum lake

This is a summary of the standards for use. See the source list for the exact conditions.

In the EU

It is not on the EU list of food additives (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II), so it cannot be used as a food additive in the EU.
It is not listed in the EU list of food additives (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II), and it cannot be used as a food additive in the EU (the aluminum lake is also not in the table of colorings that may be made into lakes).

When it is labeled under a shared name

Food Green No.3 (Fast Green FCF) and its Aluminum Lake may be declared on the label in the same way as “合成着色料（タール色素）”. See Synthetic food colors (coal-tar dyes) for details.

Sources

Checked 2026-10-02. Rules and evaluations change over time. This page is a translation of our Japanese page; if they differ, the Japanese page is the reference.

This page lists facts stated in laws and in evaluations by public bodies; it is not a safety verdict. Additives used in Japan are approved by the government, which sets the foods and amounts they can be used in. The ADI is a guide to the amount that is considered safe to take every day over a lifetime.

Other substances used as color

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