E150a: Plain caramel

What is E150a?

Plain caramel, labelled E150a, is a brown colouring made by heating sugars until they darken. It is the simplest of the four classes of caramel colour and is sometimes called caustic or spirit caramel.

Origin and production

It is produced by controlled heating of food-grade carbohydrates such as glucose syrup, sucrose or invert sugar, with or without acids or alkalis, but without ammonium or sulphite compounds.

Why is it used?

Plain caramel gives shades from light gold to dark brown and keeps colour consistent between batches. It is used in soft drinks, sweets, soy sauce, instant noodles, roasted or cooked meats and spirits such as whisky.

Vegan, vegetarian and halal

Plain caramel is made from sugars and is suitable for vegans and vegetarians. When the starting syrup is wheat-based, the colour is normally refined enough not to require gluten labelling, but people with coeliac disease can check with the manufacturer.

Safety and regulation

Plain caramel is authorised as a food colour in the EU and was re-evaluated by EFSA along with other caramel colours. EFSA did not identify a risk of exceeding the acceptable daily intake from its use.

Common in