Brilliant blue FCF
A synthetic blue dye widely used in foods, drinks, and medicines
No single value: Brilliant blue FCF is a material, and its colour varies. The background shows its family, blue.
Brilliant blue FCF is a man-made blue dye found in many foods, drinks, medicines, and cosmetics. First made in the early 1900s, it is valued for its bright colour, water solubility, and stability. It is one of the most common blue food colourings in the United States and is approved for use in many countries.
- Most common blue food dye in the United States
- Approved for use in food, medicine, and cosmetics
- First made in the early 20th century
- Dissolves in water and glycerol
- Used as a tracer in water studies
What colour is Brilliant blue FCF?
Brilliant blue FCF is a bright blue synthetic dye that appears as a blue powder. It dissolves easily in water and glycerol. The colour is strong and vivid, with its deepest blue seen when it absorbs light at around 628 nanometres. It stands out from other blues for its stability and the fact that it keeps its colour in many different products.
Where does Brilliant blue FCF come from?
This dye was first created in the early 1900s as scientists explored new synthetic colours from coal tar and aniline. It became one of the first blue dyes approved for food in the United States in 1938. Its lasting popularity comes from its reliable colour, safety record, and ability to mix well with other colours. The name 'brilliant blue FCF' refers to its intense blue shade.
How is Brilliant blue FCF made?
Brilliant blue FCF is made in factories by combining 2-formylbenzenesulfonic acid with aniline, then oxidising the mixture. The dye is usually sold as a disodium salt but can also be found as diammonium, calcium, or potassium salts, and sometimes as an aluminium lake. It is not found in nature and is made entirely by chemical processes.
Where Brilliant blue FCF is used
This dye is used in a wide range of foods such as sweets, ice cream, soft drinks, and even canned peas. It is also added to medicines, dietary supplements, cosmetics, soaps, and shampoos. In the United States, it is the most common blue food dye. Beyond food, it is used in science as a tracer in water studies and as a stain in biology and medicine.
Blue around the world
What the blue family means from country to country.
The flag's colours have no official meaning. For the Great Seal of 1782, though, blue was said to stand for vigilance, perseverance and justice, white for purity and red for hardiness and valour.
Politics and protestTrustSource: Flag of the United StatesLapis lazuli has been mined in the mountains of Badakhshan for more than six thousand years. Ground to powder it gave ultramarine, the costliest blue in European painting.
Royalty and powerSacred and holyAweSource: Lapis lazuliThe chadari is a full-length covering for women with a mesh panel over the eyes. In Kabul and the north it is most often a light blue.
Protection and healingSource: BurqaThe blue band of the flag stands for the wish of the Armenian people to live under peaceful skies. The red above it is for the highlands and the struggle to survive.
Politics and protestHopeSource: Flag of ArmeniaThe flag is sky blue, white and sky blue, created by Manuel Belgrano in 1812. National teams are called the Albiceleste, the white and sky blue.
Politics and protestPrideSource: Flag of ArgentinaBoca Juniors play in blue and gold. The club's story is that in 1907 it took the colours of the flag of the next ship into port, which was Swedish.
Festival and celebrationPrideSource: Boca JuniorsShades and relatives of Brilliant blue FCF
Related dyes include acid green 3 and acid green 9, which have similar chemical structures but different colours. Brilliant blue FCF can be mixed with yellow dyes like tartrazine to create green shades. There is ongoing research into natural blue dyes, but few match the stability and safety of brilliant blue FCF.
Questions people ask about Brilliant blue FCF
What colour is brilliant blue FCF?
Brilliant blue FCF is a bright, vivid blue. It is used to give foods, drinks, and other products a strong blue shade.
Where does the name brilliant blue FCF come from?
The name refers to its intense blue colour. FCF stands for 'For Colouring Food', marking its use as a food dye.
What is brilliant blue FCF made from?
It is made by chemically combining 2-formylbenzenesulfonic acid with aniline, then oxidising the mixture.
Where is brilliant blue FCF used?
It is found in foods like sweets, drinks, ice cream, and canned peas, as well as in medicines, cosmetics, and hygiene products.
Is brilliant blue FCF natural or synthetic?
It is a synthetic dye, made entirely through chemical processes in factories.
Good reading and sources
- Brilliant blue FCF on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More pictures on Wikimedia CommonsPictures
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Brilliant blue FCF", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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