Annatto

Additive · E 160b

Annatto is a yellow-orange color made from the seeds of the achiote tree. It is used in foods such as cheese, butter and snacks. Its main pigments, bixin and norbixin, suit different types of foods and have distinct safety limits.

Also known as

annatto extract · annatto color · annatto colour · annatto bixin · annatto norbixin · bixin · norbixin · achiote · roucou · E 160b

Why PRūF tracks it

Annatto can cause hives, swelling or a serious allergic reaction in susceptible people, while differing pigment preparations and intake limits require care when judging exposure; the frequency of allergy remains uncertain.

Read the research

Annatto food colors contain bixin or norbixin in preparations that differ in composition and processing. EFSA set separate acceptable daily intakes of 6 milligrams per kilogram of body weight for bixin and 0.3 for norbixin in the assessed preparations; these values cannot be treated as one limit for every annatto extract. A later assessment resolved an earlier DNA-damage uncertainty for aqueous-processed annatto E and found the modeled exposure did not raise a health concern, including a toddler estimate near the norbixin limit. Allergy is the clearest issue for an affected person: hives, swelling and anaphylaxis have been reported, and a controlled oral challenge confirmed a reaction in a selected patient.

The true frequency is uncertain, and those cases do not show a common population risk. FDA permits annatto subject to manufacturing and residue conditions while considering petitions about three older extraction solvents. Those petitions concern manufacturing permissions; they do not establish that a particular food contains those solvents or that annatto pigments are broadly harmful. A 2026 cohort found a diabetes association in lower annatto consumers, but the estimate for higher consumers included no difference, leaving the pattern uncertain and unproven as a causal effect.

Research reviewed on September 5, 2026 · 12 sources