Is Yellow 6 Vegan? And Is It Safe?

One of the biggest challenges that vegans face on a daily basis is working out which foods are plant-based and which ones aren’t. 

This gets especially tricky when you factor in all the additives in store-bought foods, including food dyes.

Yellow 6 is a particularly controversial dye added to many foods. While it’s legal in the United States, it has been banned in other countries. You might also know it as Sunset Yellow FCF. 

If you try to look up whether Yellow 6 is vegan, you’ll probably come across conflicting information, with some sources saying it is plant-based and others saying it’s not compatible with a vegan diet. 

The reason for this is that the classification of Yellow 6 as either vegan or non-vegan ultimately depends on an individual person’s criteria. 

In this guide, we’ll be discussing what Yellow 6 is made from, why many vegans don’t consider it to be truly vegan-friendly, and how you can decide whether to exclude this food dye from your diet. 

Yellow 6: The Basics 

If you’ve never heard of Yellow 6, you might be a little confused right now. In short, Yellow 6 is a yellow food dye that is commonly used in the United States.

In fact, it’s up there with the most widely-used dyes in the American food industry, next to Yellow 5 and Red 40. 

Yellow 6 is most often found in sweet foods like desserts, candies, and dried fruits. It’s combined with amaranth to create the coloring for brown foods like caramel and chocolate. However, it is also added to savory foods like canned fish and sausages. 

While Yellow 6 is broadly classified as a food dye, it can also be found in cosmetic and healthcare products. Some medications, makeup, hair and skin care products, and even condoms contain Yellow 6.  

How Yellow 6 Is Made

Yellow 6 is a synthetic product, and the main ingredient is petroleum. It is classed as an azo dye, which means that the molecule is formed by two nitrogen atoms connected by a double bond. 

While it might sound shocking that petroleum is used to make something that goes into our food, this is actually not uncommon. Many synthetic chemicals in the food industry are made using petroleum. 

The Question of Yellow 6 and Pork

If you’ve been vegan for a while and have done your research on which foods are vegan-friendly, you might have heard that Yellow 6 contains pork and, therefore, can’t be vegan. However, this is not entirely true. 

Yellow 6 sometimes contains glycerine, which acts as a solvent in the dye. While glycerine can be derived from pork, there is no evidence to suggest that the glycerine in Yellow 6 is pork-derived.

Yellow 6 and Animal Testing 

At this point, you might be wondering why Yellow 6 would not be considered vegan if it doesn’t contain any meat or animal products. The reason why many vegans prefer to avoid Yellow 6 wherever possible is that this food dye has a history of animal testing. 

Unfortunately, Yellow 6 continues to be tested on animals. This is because the long-term effects of consuming Yellow 6 haven’t been confirmed, so research is still being done on animals. 

Studies on Yellow 6 Using Animals

In 2014, PLoS One published a study in which rats were fed Yellow 6, and their hyperactivity levels were measured after the fact. In 2019, Nutritional Neuroscience followed suit with research into the effects of Yellow 6 on rats’ hippocampi. Then, in 2020, another study was published by the International Journal of Toxicology. The subjects for this study were zebrafish embryos. 

If you go back into the history of Yellow 6 and animal testing, you’ll find some pretty alarming descriptions of experiments. For example, in the 60s, a feeding study was done involving multiple Beagles. 

The Beagles were fed Yellow 6 over a period of 7 years, and it appeared to have a detrimental effect on the dogs’ eyes. Symptoms appeared, ranging from increased tear production to inflammation of the cornea and even loss of vision. 

What This Means for Vegans 

All of this evidence confirms that Yellow 6 is definitely not cruelty-free. For many vegans, the fact that a product is tested on animals means that the product is automatically not vegan. 

This is because a significant percentage of vegans have adopted the lifestyle as an extension of the wider animal rights movement and avoid products based on the harm they do to animals, as opposed to only the presence of animal-derived ingredients. 

On the other hand, there are plenty of vegans who have decided to consume a plant-based diet to help the environment, and still more who eat plant-based purely for the health benefits. These vegans might still consume Yellow 6 despite its reliance on animal testing. 

While some would argue that an ethical distinction should be made between veganism and plant-based diets, this is a larger conversation for another time. 

With all of that being said, if you are vegan exclusively for the health benefits and not for the animals, the testing of Yellow 6 on animals should still concern you. 

That’s because the only reason Yellow 6 is being tested on animals is that it’s been proven to cause harm, and researchers are still trying to determine just how dangerous it really is.

Safety Concerns Surrounding Yellow 6 

As we mentioned earlier, although Yellow 6 is legal in the United States, that’s not the case elsewhere in the world. 

Japan, for example, has banned Yellow 6, and in the European Union, it is a legal requirement that food manufacturers add a warning label for Yellow 6 regarding its effects on children’s attention spans and activity levels. 

In fact, the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) has specified that no more than 4 mg of Yellow 6 should be consumed per kilogram of body weight per day.

Depending on which sources you read, you may also learn that Austria, Finland, Sweden, and Norway have banned the sale of products containing Yellow 6. 

Understandably, this information is shocking to read. But why are there so many safety concerns surrounding Yellow 6?

Yellow 6 Side Effects

Because most studies on the safety of Yellow 6 have been done on animals, it’s difficult to conclusively prove that the dye is harmful to humans. 

However, based on the evidence from animal studies and research into the chemical compounds in Yellow 6, experts have suggested that there is a risk of damage to human health associated with the consumption of the dye.

The Link Between Yellow 6 and Cancer 

Studies on rats, for example, found a correlation between Yellow 6 consumption and the development of testicular tumors. Furthermore, the fact that Yellow 6 contains both 4-amino-biphenyl and benzidine is concerning because both of these are carcinogens (potential cancer-causing agents). 

While correlation doesn’t equal causation, meaning that there is not a strong link between Yellow 6 and cancer in humans, experts still have their concerns. This is mostly because artificial dyes go through a synthesizing process where 10% of the results are contaminants. These contaminants include the carcinogens mentioned above. While they are present in very low levels that should not cause cancer in theory, any carcinogens are best avoided.

Allergic Reactions Caused by Yellow 6 

There have been reports of Yellow 6 (as well as other food dyes such as Yellow 5) causing severe allergic reactions. While these are admittedly quite rare, they are alarming to read about. 

For example, a study by Jenkins, Michelson, et al. discusses the case of a middle-aged woman who sought medical attention for lesions on her skin. She was treated but was hospitalized two days later with loss of appetite and other digestive symptoms, including vomiting and severe pain in her abdomen. A challenge test was performed, which concluded that this was an allergic reaction to Yellow 6.

Another example can be found in a paper by Trautlein and Mann from 1978. In this case, a 15-year-old girl received an enema containing dyes Yellow 6 and Yellow 5 while pregnant. Within a few minutes, she began to experience symptoms such as hypotension, excessive sweating, and dizziness. 

The symptoms became progressively worse as she lost consciousness, with her pulse weakening, her blood pressure dropping, and her skin reddening.

Even after coming around, she continued to feel unwell and struggled to breathe, along with other symptoms, such as cognitive impairment and hives. Tests confirmed sensitivity to both dyes in the enema.

Yellow 6 and Hyperactivity in Children

While hyperactivity in children is associated with food dyes in general, and not just Yellow 6, this is an additional concern, especially since Yellow 6 is primarily found in sweet foods that children often prefer.

Should Vegans Buy Products Containing Yellow 6?

So, should vegans be buying or consuming products containing food dye Yellow 6? This is a complicated question that can only be answered on an individual basis since it really depends on each person’s definition of veganism.

In terms of ingredients, Yellow 6 does not contain any animal products. Therefore, Yellow 6 can be considered compatible with a vegan or plant-based diet.

However, if you have decided to go vegan to reduce harm to animals, you might want to consider avoiding Yellow 6 since it continues to be tested on animals. 

While some vegans may be willing to accept a single instance of animal testing to determine the safety of a product, the tests done on animals using Yellow 6 extend far beyond this. It has already been determined that Yellow 6 is linked to several adverse health effects, and experiments are now being conducted purely to determine exactly how dangerous the chemical is. 

Additionally, if you’re vegan because of the links between plant-based diets and improved health, you may want to be careful of Yellow 6. 

The whole reason it’s being tested on animals in the first place is because research has suggested links to cancer, allergic responses, and hyperactivity. 

To Boycott or Not to Boycott?

With that being said, it’s also worth considering the realistic impact of boycotting Yellow 6 as a vegan. 

Learning that a product is being tested on animals and could have negative health effects is upsetting, but in the case of Yellow 6, lower demand would be unlikely to affect experimentation or production. 

This is because Yellow 6 is used so widely, and most people are completely unaware of the issues with it. Boycotting Yellow 6 completely is likely to be time-consuming and would mean limiting your options much more than the average vegan when it comes to buying food, cosmetic products, and even some medications. 

If you are serious about boycotting Yellow 6, we recommend contacting companies that manufacture products containing the dye and explaining why you’re no longer buying them. This will make the boycotting more noticeable and impactful. 

Final Thoughts 

Yellow 6 may be used widely across the United States, and it doesn’t contain any animal ingredients, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily vegan or even safe to consume. 

Yellow 6 is tested on animals, meaning that its manufacture results in harm to animals. 

Moreover, research has suggested that Yellow 6 may be linked to some types of cancer and can cause hyperactivity in children. Some severe allergic reactions associated with Yellow 6 have also been reported. 

Boycotting Yellow 6 as a vegan is very difficult because it’s used in so many products. However, some vegans feel it is necessary due to their beliefs. 

Up next, check out our guide to red 40.

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