Food Colors

FOOD COLORS SUCH AS YELLOW N0. 5, RED NO. 40 AND THEIR HALAL STATUS:
Food colorants which act as food additives are either Natural or
synthetic derived. FDA categories the colorants in use as GRAS
(Generally Recognized AS Safe).
Natural Colorants:
    1. Annatto
    2. Antocyanins
    3. Beet root juice and betanin
    4. Beta-carotene (Halal only if Fish gelatin or Zabiha gelatin or Vegetable oil is used as a carrier)
    5. Canthaxanthin
    6. Caramel
    7. Cochineal and carminic acid (They are not considered as Halal because all insects are Haram according to Hanifa madhab)
    8. Paprika powder and paprika oleoresin
    9. Turmeric and turmeric oleoresin
They are Halal only if used in pure powder or granules forms. They
are not Halal if they are extracted with ethyl alcohol. Please call the
manufacturer to confirm that no alcohol is used as an extracting
solvent.

SYNTHETIC COLORS SUCH AS YELLOW NO. 5 OR RED NO. 40:
    * Synthetic Colorants are FD&C (Food and Cosmetic) Dyes and
Aluminum Lakes which are available in powder, granular and liquid forms.
    * A dye is a pure chemical which exhibits coloring power when it
dissolved in only water because it will not mix with oil. So pure dye
color as a powder or granule or dissolved only in water is Halal.
    * A Lake pigment is an insoluble chemical which colors by dispersion.
All the synthetic colorants are certified by FDA and FDA allows only the following solvents for dispersion and carrying agents:
    * Glycerin (Haram, if it is from pork fat)
    * Propylene Glycol (Halal)
    * Dextrose (Halal)
    * Sucrose (Halal)
    * Vegetable Oil (Halal)
    * Water (Halal)
The above solvents and carrier are used only in liquid synthetic
colors because dry synthetic colors cannot be use in a liquid food.
These solvents do not appear on the ingredients list because they
consider as processing aid ingredient or hidden ingredient.

HOW TO KNOW THE HALAL STATUS SYNTHETIC COLORS SUCH AS YELLOW NO. 5 OR RED NO.40:
There are three ways to find the Halal status of synthetic color such as yellow no. 5 in a food product.
    1. The manufacturer of the food products containing synthetic colors are only one who know in what form the synthetic colors are added to a food product. MCG does not recommend this approach if the said food product is not under Halal/Kosher certification because the manufacturer can change the form of color from powder to liquid.
    2. If the product is Halal or kosher certified with a Halal or kosher symbol on the food  package then the carriers used to obtain the liquid color are Halal or Kosher.

    3. If a kosher symbol such as U or UD, Circle K, Triangle K, CRC,
COR, V, kuf K appears on the food product containing FD&C Yellow No. 5 or FD &C Red NO. 40 or any synthetic color. This kosher symbol on the package indicates no pork glycerin was used as carrier in the synthetic colors.

COLORED CHERRIES
The cherries are artificially colored and also it is colored with
carmine (carmine color is obtained from insects/beetles and this color
is not considered Halal). If the cherries are colored with artificial
FD&C then there is a chance FD&C might contain pork glycerin as a solvent. So colored cherries have to be Halal or Kosher certified.
Colored cherries are added in fruit cocktails. If the fruit cocktail can does not have a Halal or Kosher symbol, then the fruit cocktail containing colored cherries is not Halal. So always look for Halal or Kosher symbol in a product containing colored cherries.