Food-grade colours are colourants made and tested to meet food additive purity rules, so they can be added to food and drink. They are a separate grade from textile or industrial dyes, even when the chemistry is similar, because limits on metals and impurities are far stricter.
Yes, synthetic food colours are made in Gujarat, including in and around Vapi and Ankleshwar. Whether a given plant's products suit your market depends on your country's approved list and purity rules.
Synthetic and natural colours
India's food regulator, FSSAI, permits a short list of synthetic colours. The commonly cited list is Ponceau 4R, Carmoisine, Erythrosine, Tartrazine, Sunset Yellow FCF, Indigo Carmine, Brilliant Blue FCF and Fast Green FCF. Natural colours, such as curcumin, annatto, beta-carotene, caramel and chlorophyll, are also used. For the general difference between colourant types, read dyes versus pigments.
Synthetic colours are also sold as aluminium lakes, which are insoluble and used in coatings, tablets and fat-based foods. Indian law is not what matters for your imports, though. Your own country's list is.
Many Gujarat colour makers produce both food and non-food grades. That is not a problem in itself, but it makes separation of lines, raw materials and finished stock an important point to check in an audit.
Your market's rules
- In the European Union, each colour needs an E number approval and must meet the purity criteria in the EU specifications regulation.
- In the United States, most synthetic colours must be batch-certified by the FDA before use, and a certified lot carries an FDA lot number.
- In April 2025 the FDA announced a plan to phase out petroleum-based synthetic food dyes by the end of 2026; check the FDA's colour additive pages for the status before you buy.
- Other markets use Codex specifications or their own lists, and the same colour can be permitted in one country and not in another.
- Use levels and permitted foods are also set by law, so a permitted colour can still be barred from a specific product.
What to ask a Gujarat supplier
- Ask for a COA per lot covering dye content, subsidiary colours, unsulphonated amines and heavy metals against your market's specification.
- Ask for the plant's food safety management certification and its FSSAI licence for manufacturing.
- Ask whether it makes food colours on lines separate from textile dyes, and how it stops cross-contamination.
- For the US, ask for the FDA certification lot details for each batch.
- Ask for kosher or halal certificates if your customers need them, issued for the specific products.
Next step
The importer is usually responsible for confirming a food additive is permitted, so check with your food regulator first. We find makers, check certificates and lab reports, and have lots tested before shipment. To begin, book a free sourcing review.