Ingredient Information

Function

Yellow 6 Lake is a food coloring also known also as Yellow No. 6, Yellow 6 and Sunset Yellow FCF. It is commonly used to obtain an orange color that matches the anticipated flavor of a food. Yellow 6 Lake is found in custards, beverages, ice creams, cereals, chips, marshmallows, packaged macaroni and cheese meals and noodles. Yellow 6 is also known as SUNSET YELLOW FCF, E110, C.I.15985, Orange yellow S, Food yellow 3.

Other Use and Industries

Yellow 6 Lake is used in some pet foods. It is found in shampoos, fabric dyes, soaps, lipsticks and coated tablets. Some artists use Yellow 6 Lake as a body paint.

Health Effects

Reports show that artificial dyes aggravate ADHD symptoms. The FDA has approved food dyes like Yellow 6 Lake, but these dyes do not appear naturally in nature so caution should be used when consuming them. 21 studies have shown that Lake dyes contribute to hyperactivity, restlessness and attention problems. Removing Yellow 5 Lake and other artificial dyes from the diet could result in children being able to reduce their ADHD medications. Yellow 6 Lake is present in many restaurant items that do not have to list all of the ingredients, so it is important to take care in researching potential ingredients on a menu.

Origins

Yellow 6 Lake is a dye that has been approved for food usage. It is dissolvable in water but not oil. Colorants for food come in two varieties; dyes and lakes. Lakes are produced by combining dye with salts to make an insoluble compound. Lakes are not oil soluble, but they are oil dispersible. Lake colors are made from petrochemicals. They are sourced from the colorless runoff of crude oil. Lakes are mixed with nitrates and sulfuric acid.