Food additive databasecolorChecked 2026-10-02

Turmeric Oleoresin / Curcumin ウコン色素

Existing food additivePermitted in the EU (E100)

Purpose: color
On the label: “着色料（ウコン）” (colorant (turmeric)), “ウコン色素” (turmeric pigment), “ターメリック色素” (turmeric pigment), “クルクミン” (curcumin)
Name in the List of Existing Food Additives: ウコン色素 (No. 34)
Source and production: A yellow pigment whose main component is curcumin, obtained from the rhizome of turmeric (Curcuma longa). It may contain edible fats and oils.

In Japan

A colorant whose main component is curcumin, obtained from the turmeric rhizome (definition in the List of Existing Food Additives and in Japan's Specifications and Standards for Food Additives).
Because it is a colorant, it is written together with the purpose name, as in “着色料（ウコン）” (colorant (turmeric)). When the name contains the character “色” (color), as in “ウコン色素” and “ターメリック色素”, “着色料” (colorant) can be omitted.
Under the standard for use for natural colorants, it cannot be used in kelp (kombu), meat, fresh fish and shellfish (including whale meat), tea, nori (laver) products, beans, vegetables, or wakame seaweed.

Japan's standards for use

Must not be used in kelp (kombu), meat, fresh fish and shellfish (including whale meat), tea, nori (laver) products, beans, vegetables, or wakame seaweed (the standard for use for “colorants (excluding chemically synthesized products)”)

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

In the EU

It is on the EU list of food additives (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II) as E100.
The EU's E100 (curcumin) is specified as curcumin obtained by solvent extraction of turmeric and purified by crystallization (Regulation 231/2012). Its specification differs from that of turmeric oleoresin as extracted.
In its 2010 evaluation, EFSA set the ADI for curcumin (E100) at 3 mg per kg of body weight per day. Because the specification of turmeric pigment (oleoresin) differs from that of curcumin, this page does not treat that ADI as applying to it.

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

← Back to the food additive database