Foods
Dyes in cake and baking mixes
A box of yellow cake mix may owe its color to a dye rather than to eggs. The labels show which dyes are used and how often.
Search labeled products by category and dye
Cake and baking mixes: products whose label lists a tracked dye or additive
1,286 of 7,507
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USDA FoodData Central, Branded Foods, release of 2026-10-29. The label date is when the record was submitted: recipes change, so check the package in your hand.
The USDA groups of cake, cookie and cupcake mixes, bread and muffin mixes, crusts and doughs and baking supplies count 7,507 products, of which 17% list a tracked substance. Here Yellow 5 is first, at 12%, because many yellow and butter cake mixes use it together with Yellow 6, on 9%, for the color of eggs and butter. Red 40, at 10%, comes from red velvet, strawberry and confetti mixes, and Red 3, at 3%, from confetti bits. Food coloring sold for home baking falls in this group too, which raises the counts. Because a mix is a food sold to the public, the federal Red 3 date and the California ban apply to it; school rules matter only where a school kitchen bakes from mixes.
How common is this ingredient in a food category?
Cake and baking mixes whose label lists Red 40
10%
| Products listing it | 772 |
| Products in the category | 7,507 |
USDA FoodData Central, Branded Foods; labels were submitted over several years and recipes change.
Laws and FDA orders read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Food coloring sold to home bakers
Bottles and gels of food coloring are foods in law and follow the same rules as any other: their labels must name each certified dye, and from January 15, 2027, they may not contain Red 3. Gel colors made with plant extracts are sold as alternatives. The list of dyes gives each name you may read on a bottle.
What the labels list, substance by substance
| Substance | Products | Share of the category |
|---|---|---|
| Red 40 | 772 | 10.3% |
| Red 3 | 239 | 3.2% |
| Yellow 5 | 899 | 12.0% |
| Yellow 6 | 679 | 9.0% |
| Blue 1 | 500 | 6.7% |
| Blue 2 | 154 | 2.1% |
| Green 3 | 5 | 0.1% |
| Potassium bromate | 15 | 0.2% |
| Propylparaben | 5 | 0.1% |
| Titanium dioxide | 200 | 2.7% |
| BHA | 47 | 0.6% |