Tartrazine: dye, meaning and history

Tartrazine is a bright lemon yellow synthetic dye, mainly used to colour foods, drinks, cosmetics and medicines. First made in the late 19th century, it is one of the oldest azo dyes and is also known as E102 or FD&C Yellow 5. It can be mixed with blue or green dyes to create green shades, and is found in many processed products.

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First made in Basel, Switzerland, in 1890
Known as E102 in Europe and FD&C Yellow 5 in the US
Used in foods, cosmetics, medicines and textiles
Can cause allergies in a small number of people
Makes a clear, bright lemon yellow colour

What colour is Tartrazine?

Tartrazine is a man-made dye that gives a strong lemon yellow colour. It stands out for its brightness and is used where a clear, vivid yellow is needed. It dissolves in water and is one of the oldest dyes of its type. Tartrazine is often blended with other dyes to make green shades. It is known by several names, including E102 and FD&C Yellow 5.

Where does Tartrazine come from?

The dye was first discovered by Johann Heinrich Ziegler in Basel, Switzerland, in 1890. It was developed in the labs of a Swiss chemical company and soon patented and produced in Germany. The name 'tartrazine' comes from its chemical structure, not from a natural source. Its early history is closely tied to the growth of the synthetic dye industry in Europe.

How is Tartrazine made?

Tartrazine is made through a chemical process called azo coupling. This involves reacting a diazonium salt based on sulfanilic acid with a sulfonated pyrazolone compound. The result is a water-soluble yellow dye. It is not found in nature and is made entirely from chemical ingredients.

Where Tartrazine is used

This dye is found in a wide range of products. In food, it colours sweets, drinks, baked goods, snacks, sauces, and more. It is also used in cosmetics like soaps, lotions, and makeup, as well as in medicines to help identify pills and liquids. Other uses include colouring wool and silk, inks, crayons, and even some cleaning products.

Yellow around the world

What the yellow family means from country to country.

🇦🇺 Australia

The yellow disc of the Aboriginal flag is the sun, giver of life. The flag was designed by the Luritja artist Harold Thomas and first flown in Adelaide in 1971.

Sacred and holy Source: Australian Aboriginal flag

🇧🇩 Bangladesh

At the gaye holud, held a day or two before a wedding, relatives rub turmeric paste on the bride and groom. Guests dress in yellow and orange.

Weddings and marriage Festival and celebration Joy Source: Gaye holud

🇧🇩 Bangladesh

On Pohela Falgun, the first day of spring, young women wear yellow and orange saris, a shade called basanti, with flowers in their hair.

Festival and celebration Nature and renewal Joy Source: Pohela Falgun

🇧🇪 Belgium

The Flemish flag is a black lion on yellow, and the Walloon flag a red cockerel on yellow. The language communities are often shown by these colours.

Politics and protest Pride Source: Flag of Flanders

🇧🇳 Brunei

The flag is yellow, the colour of the Sultan. By custom, ordinary people did not wear yellow in the ruler's presence.

Royalty and power Pride Source: Flag of Brunei

🇧🇷 Brazil

The national football team plays in a yellow shirt with green trim, the canarinho. It was chosen in a newspaper contest after the 1950 World Cup final was lost in white.

Festival and celebration Pride Joy Source: Brazil national football team

Shades and relatives of Tartrazine

Tartrazine is sometimes confused with other yellow dyes, such as Sunset Yellow FCF (Yellow 6). When mixed with blue dyes like brilliant blue FCF or green S, it can produce various shades of green. Its label may change depending on the country or product, but the colour remains a bright lemon yellow.

Questions people ask about Tartrazine

What colour is tartrazine?

Tartrazine is a synthetic dye that gives a bright lemon yellow colour. It is used to make foods, drinks, and other products look yellow or sometimes green when mixed with blue dyes.

Where does the name tartrazine come from?

The name 'tartrazine' comes from its chemical structure and does not refer to a natural source. It was first made in Switzerland in 1890.

What is tartrazine used for?

It is used to colour processed foods, drinks, cosmetics, medicines, textiles, and some household products. It helps give products a yellow or green appearance.

Is tartrazine natural or synthetic?

Tartrazine is a fully synthetic dye. It is made from chemical reactions in factories and does not occur naturally.

Can tartrazine cause allergies?

A small number of people are sensitive or allergic to tartrazine. Reactions are rare, but it can cause hives or other symptoms in some individuals.

Good reading and sources

Where this page comes from

The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Tartrazine", 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.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Cadmium pigments: Marco Almbauer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Gamboge: Maša Sinreih in Valentina Vivod, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Turmeric: J.M.Garg, CC BY 3.0, source

Orpiment: Ra'ike, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Naples yellow: Matthias Stom, Public domain, source

Indian Yellow: Shisha-Tom, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Yellow: Mark Robinson, CC BY 2.0, source

Chrome yellow: FK1954, CC0, source

Tartrazine