Brown FK
A synthetic brown food dye once used to colour smoked fish and meats
No single value: Brown FK is a material, and its colour varies. The background shows its family, brown.
Brown FK is a water-soluble artificial brown dye made from a blend of six azo compounds and salts. It was mainly used to give a lasting brown shade to smoked fish and some meats, but is now banned in many countries due to safety concerns and lack of toxicity data.
- Made from six synthetic azo dyes and salts
- Once used to colour smoked fish and meats
- Known as E154 when used as a food additive
- No longer approved in the EU or many other countries
- Very soluble in water
What colour is Brown FK?
Brown FK is a man-made brown colouring, produced by combining several azo dyes with salts. It dissolves easily in water and was designed to give foods a rich brown look that stayed through cooking. Its shade is similar to the colour of smoked or cured fish, which is where it saw most of its use.
Where does Brown FK come from?
The name Brown FK comes from its use in food, especially fish like kippers. The 'FK' stands for 'food kipper'. It is also known by other names in the food industry, such as C.I. Food Brown 1. The dye was created to provide a stable brown colour that would not wash out or fade during preparation.
How is Brown FK made?
This dye is made by mixing six different synthetic azo compounds, each with a complex chemical structure, along with either sodium chloride or sodium sulfate. The result is a powder that dissolves well in water, making it suitable for use in processed foods.
Where Brown FK is used
Brown FK was mostly added to smoked fish, such as kippers, and to some cooked meats like ham. Its purpose was to give these foods a more appealing brown colour that would not disappear during cooking or soak out into water. It was never widely used outside of these foods.
Brown around the world
What the brown family means from country to country.
Brown is the colour of Nazism in German political speech, after the brown shirts of the party's stormtroopers. To call a view "brown" is to call it far right.
Politics and protestDanger and warningShameSource: SturmabteilungMasi is bark cloth beaten from paper mulberry and printed in brown and black. It is worn at weddings and funerals and given in ceremonial exchanges.
Sacred and holyWeddings and marriageSource: Tapa clothKuntunkuni is a dark brown mourning cloth of the Asante, dyed with tree bark. Adinkra cloth, stamped with symbols, was first made on such dark grounds for funerals.
Mourning and deathSadnessSource: Adinkra symbolsThe batik of the Javanese courts at Yogyakarta and Surakarta is dyed in soga brown with indigo and cream. Some court patterns were once reserved for the royal family.
Royalty and powerPrideSource: BatikBogolanfini, or mud cloth, is cotton painted with fermented river mud in browns, black and white. Hunters wear it for protection, and women after childbirth.
Protection and healingSacred and holySource: BògòlanfiniShades and relatives of Brown FK
Brown FK has been sold under several names, including Kipper Brown and Chocolate Brown FK. It is sometimes confused with other brown food dyes, but its chemical makeup is distinct, being a mixture of specific azo compounds.
Questions people ask about Brown FK
What colour is Brown FK?
Brown FK gives a medium to dark brown shade, similar to the colour seen on smoked or cured fish.
Where does the name Brown FK come from?
The name refers to its use in food, especially for kippers, with 'FK' standing for 'food kipper'.
What is Brown FK made from?
It is a blend of six synthetic azo dyes, combined with sodium chloride or sodium sulfate.
Is Brown FK still allowed in food?
It is not approved for use in the European Union and many other countries due to safety concerns.
What foods was Brown FK used in?
It was mainly used to colour smoked fish like kippers and some cooked meats, giving them a stable brown appearance.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Brown FK", 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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