chemistry

Sunset yellow FCF

Sunset yellow FCF is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sunset yellow FCF rather than just read about it. In short: Sunset yellow FCF (also known as orange yellow S, or C.I. 15985) is a petroleum-derived orange azo dye with a pH-dependent maximum absorption at about 480 nm at pH 1 and 443 nm at pH 13, with a shoulder at 500 nm. When added to foods sold in the United States, it is known as FD&C Yellow 6; when sold in Europe, it is denoted by E Number E110.

Key takeaways

Sunset yellow FCF belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sunset yellow FCF to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sunset yellow FCF from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sunset yellow FCF (also known as orange yellow S, or C.I. 15985) is a petroleum-derived orange azo dye with a pH-dependent maximum absorption at about 480 nm at pH 1 and 443 nm at pH 13, with a shoulder at 500 nm. When added to foods sold in the United States, it is known as FD&C Yellow 6; when sold in Europe, it is denoted by E Number E110.

Uses Sunset yellow is used in foods, cosmetics, and drugs. Sunset yellow FCF is used as an orange or yellow-orange dye. For example, it is used in candy, desserts, snacks, sauces, and preserved fruits. Sunset yellow is often used in conjunction with E123, amaranth, to produce a brown colouring in both chocolates and caramel.

Safety The acceptable daily intake (ADI) is 0–4 mg/kg under both EU and WHO/FAO guidelines. Sunset yellow FCF has no known carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, or developmental toxicity in the amounts at which it is used. It has been claimed since the late 1970s, under the advocacy of Benjamin Feingold, that sunset yellow FCF causes food intolerance and ADHD-like behavior in children, but there is little scientific evidence to support these broad claims. It is possible that certain food colorings may act as a trigger in those who are genetically predisposed, but the evidence is weak.

Regulation as food additive

Europe "European Parliament and Council Directive 94/36/EC of 30 June 1994 on colours for use in foodstuffs" harmonized rules and approved Sunset Yellow FCF for use in foodstuffs in the whole of the European Union. Before that time, approved amounts was up to each country, but naming and composition was standardized. Sunset yellow FCF was not approved in Norway before 2001. That was the time when the 94/36/EC directive of 1994 was included in EFTA (now EEC) rules and came into effect, after years of delaying tactics from the Norwegian side and a heated political debate. In 2008, the Food Standards Agency of the UK called for food manufacturers to voluntarily stop using six food additive colours, tartrazine, allura red, ponceau 4R, quinoline yellow WS, sunset yellow and carmoisine (dubbed the "Southampton 6") by 2009, and provided a document to assist in replacing the colors with other colors. An EU regulation came into effect in 2010 mandating that food manufacturers include a label on foods containing the Southampton 6 stating: "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children".

United States Sunset yellow FCF is known as FD&C yellow No. 6 in the US and is approved for use in coloring food, drugs, and cosmetics with an acceptable daily intake of 3.75 mg/kg.

Society and culture Since the 1970s and the well-publicized advocacy of Benjamin Feingold, there has been public concern that food colorings may cause ADHD-like behavior in children. These concerns have led the FDA and other food safety authorities to regularly review the scientific literature, and led the UK FSA to commission a study by researchers at Southampton University of the effect of a mixture of the "Southampton 6" and sodium benzoate (a preservative) on children in the general population who consumed them in beverages; the study was published in 2007. The study found "a possible link between the consumption of these artificial colours and a sodium benzoate preservative and increased hyperactivity" in the children; the advisory committee to the FSA that evaluated the study also determined that because of study limitations, the results could not be extrapolated to the general population, and further testing was recommended". The European regulatory community, with a stronger emphasis on the precautionary principle, required labelling and temporarily reduced the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for the food colorings; the UK FSA called for voluntary withdrawal of the colorings by food manufacturers. However, in 2009 the EFSA re-evaluated the data at hand and determined that "the available scientific evidence does not substantiate a link between the color additives and behavioral effects" and in 2014 after further review of the data, the EFSA restored the prior ADI levels. The US FDA did not make changes following the publication of the Southampton study, but following a citizen petition filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest in 2008, requesting the FDA to ban several food additives, the FDA commenced a review of the available evidence, and still made no changes.

See also Sulfarsazene, a metal indicator Tartrazine, also known as Yellow 5

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sunset yellow FCF

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sunset yellow FCF claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sunset yellow FCF before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sunset yellow FCF ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sunset yellow FCF

In research: Sunset yellow FCF appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sunset yellow FCF in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sunset yellow FCF is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2-Naphthols, Acid dyes, Azo dyes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sunset yellow FCF outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sunset yellow FCF in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sunset yellow FCF means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sunset yellow FCF out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sunset yellow FCF in simple terms?

Why does Sunset yellow FCF matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sunset yellow FCF?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sunset yellow FCF.