Why on ingredients labels are colors identified with numbers, such as yellow 2 or blue 1 etc

Question

Why on ingredients labels are colors identified with numbers, such as yellow 2 or blue 1 etc

In: 3

Answer 1

There are hundreds of food additives, including dozens and dozens of color additives. They can’t just say “yellow”, because there are many yellow compounds that can be used in food. So they are given numbers by the FDA so they can be distinguished.

See a list of FD&C color additives here, many of which are now restricted:

https://www.fda.gov/industry/color-additive-inventories/color-additive-status-list#list1