Beta-carotene

Additive

Beta-carotene is a yellow-to-orange pigment used to color foods and drinks. The body can turn it into vitamin A. Food makers can obtain it from natural sources or produce it synthetically.

Also known as

Beta-carotene

Why PRūF tracks it

The clearest evidence of harm comes from high-dose supplements in people who smoke or have smoked. Evidence about its use as a food color is less certain.

The research distinguishes this ingredient from related food colors and from high-dose supplements.

Read the research

This page is for Beta-carotene. The accepted joint review below explains the distinct evidence for both components. These two colors need separate interpretation.

In 2026, JECFA estimated that high-consuming EU toddlers could receive beta-apo-8′-carotenal above its acceptable daily intake, a protective benchmark for long-term exposure. This was a dietary model using typical use levels, not evidence that children had suffered injury. For beta-carotene, the same review found higher upper exposure estimates but could not characterize their toxicological meaning because no acceptable daily intake has been established. Stronger human harm evidence concerns beta-carotene supplements in smoking-related risk groups: trials found increased lung cancer with sustained supplemental doses, and follow-up evidence also raises concern for former smokers.

These findings should not be equated with ordinary coloring use or carotenoids in vegetables. A 2026 French cohort linked additive beta-carotene intake with diabetes and cancer in separate analyses of shared participants; this is not independent replication or proof of causation, and randomized supplement studies found no overall diabetes effect. Differences in dose, food context and study population matter. The review highlights the apocarotenal exposure finding, while beta-carotene food-use evidence remains uncertain.

Current US and Canadian rules permit specified uses, and JECFA’s recommendation to review uses is advisory.

Research reviewed on September 5, 2026 · 12 sources