Ingredient Index · E104

Is Quinoline Yellow banned in Europe?

Banned in US only

This one runs the other way: Quinoline Yellow (E104) is legal in EU food, sold with a mandatory warning about children's activity and attention, while the US has never permitted it in food at all.

E-number: E104CAS: 8004-92-0 Also seen as: Quinoline Yellow WS, E104, CI 47005

What the EU does

Authorized, with a warning stapled on. Quinoline Yellow sits on the EU's Union list of food colors, and any food using it must carry the Southampton warning: "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children", mandatory since July 2010. You will meet it in European confectionery, soft drinks, desserts, and the dyed coating of smoked haddock.

Europe also tightened the dose. After the Southampton study, EFSA re-evaluated E104 in 2009 and cut its acceptable daily intake twenty-fold, from 10 to 0.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, noting children's intake at then-permitted levels was generally well over the new figure. Regulation (EU) No 232/2012 then slashed maximum use levels across food categories. That is the EU pattern in miniature: keep the additive, shrink the exposure, warn the parent.

Citation Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II and Annex V (Southampton warning); EFSA re-evaluation 2009 (ADI 0.5 mg/kg bw/day); Regulation (EU) No 232/2012

What the US does

Never permitted in food. The US color-additive system, like the EU's, is a positive list, and Quinoline Yellow has never been on it for food. The closest American relative, D&C Yellow No. 10, is a differently sulfonated composition approved only for drugs and cosmetics, so even it cannot legally color a food. An imported European candy made with E104 is adulterated on arrival in the US.

This is one of the entries that keeps this site honest. The internet's framing says Europe bans what America allows; here America is the stricter jurisdiction and has been for decades, without any dramatic announcement. The gap runs both ways, dye by dye.

Citation 21 CFR 74.1710 (D&C Yellow No. 10, drugs only); 21 CFR Part 74, Subpart A (no food listing for Quinoline Yellow)

Products that commonly contain it

In Europe (not the US), E104 appears in:

Sugar confectionery and lemon-flavored sweets
Soft drinks and squashes
Desserts, jellies, and ice creams
Smoked haddock and kippers (the yellow tint), plus some medicines and cosmetics

What to look for on a label

You will only need this label skill while traveling or buying imports:

"Quinoline Yellow" or "E104" in a European ingredient list
The Southampton warning sentence on the package is the tell for all six warning-label dyes
In the US, yellow shades come from Yellow 5 (tartrazine) or Yellow 6 instead

Or skip the squinting: paste the whole ingredient list into our checker and it flags everything in our database. Nothing you paste leaves your browser.

Frequently asked questions

Is Quinoline Yellow banned in the US?

It has never been approved for American food, which under the US positive-list system means it may not be used. The related D&C Yellow No. 10 is approved only for drugs and cosmetics and is chemically distinct.

Why does the EU allow it with a warning?

The 2007 Southampton study linked dye mixtures including E104 to hyperactivity in some children. The EU responded with a mandatory warning label and a twenty-fold ADI cut rather than a ban.

Which approach is stricter?

For this dye, America's: zero food use beats labeled-and-limited use. Europe would say its warning system covers six dyes at once while the US still permits three of them freely. Both readings are defensible, which is the point.

Related ingredients

Primary sources

Last reviewed July 13, 2026 · How we assign statuses