Foods

Dyes in cakes, pastries and toaster pastries

Frosted snack cakes and toaster pastries are among the most colored baked goods. The figures cover the sweet bakery aisle.

Search labeled products by category and dye

Cakes, pastries and toaster pastries: products whose label lists a tracked dye or additive

5,487 of 14,007

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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.

Cakes, cupcakes, snack cakes, sweet rolls, muffins, pastries and frozen waffles together make 14,007 products in the data, and 39% list a tracked substance. Red 40 leads at 25%, followed by Yellow 5 at 20% and Blue 1 at 16%. Titanium dioxide is on 13% of labels, used in white icing and fillings, and propylparaben still appears in some packaged pastries, where it serves as a preservative; it is banned in California food from January 1, 2027. Snack cakes and toaster pastries are common at school breakfast in some districts, which is where the state school rules bite first. Unfrosted muffins and plain pound cake rarely list any of these substances: the colors are almost always in the frosting, glaze or filling.

How common is this ingredient in a food category?

Cakes, pastries and toaster pastries whose label lists Red 40

25%

Products listing it3,454
Products in the category14,007

USDA FoodData Central, Branded Foods; labels were submitted over several years and recipes change.

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Laws and FDA orders read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources

What changes in California in 2027

From January 1, 2027, a pastry sold in California may not contain Red 3 or propylparaben, under the state's Food Safety Act. From December 31, 2027, school food there must also be free of the six other certified dyes. The California page gives both laws. Elsewhere, the federal Red 3 order of January 15, 2027 applies.

What the labels list, substance by substance

14,007 products, 13,999 with an ingredient list; USDA FoodData Central, Branded Foods, release of October 29, 2026.
SubstanceProductsShare of the category
Red 403,45424.7%
Red 31,0337.4%
Yellow 52,84320.3%
Yellow 62,25416.1%
Blue 12,26416.2%
Blue 27255.2%
Green 3370.3%
BVO10.0%
Potassium bromate600.4%
Propylparaben1050.7%
Titanium dioxide1,87713.4%
BHA790.6%

Questions people ask

How many cakes, pastries and toaster pastries products were counted, and how recent are their labels?

14,007 products, one per barcode, from the USDA FoodData Central Branded Foods release of October 29, 2026. 5,487 of them list at least one of the 14 substances tracked here. Most labels in the data set were filed in 2021 to 2023, so recipes may have changed since.

Which dye is listed most often in cakes, pastries and toaster pastries?

Red 40, on 3,454 labels or 24.7% of the category, followed by Yellow 5 (2,843) and Blue 1 (2,264). A product often lists several at once, so the counts overlap. The table on this page gives every tracked substance. Counts come from the labels, not from tests of the products themselves.

Are cakes, pastries and toaster pastries with these dyes legal to sell?

Yes, in stores, except for substances whose federal date has passed, such as BVO, or will pass, such as Red 3 on January 15, 2027, and from January 1, 2027 for the four substances of California's Food Safety Act in that state. School rules in several states limit what schools serve or sell, not what stores sell.

Check next

Foods with Red 40

Search US products whose label lists Red 40 or another tracked dye, by category, from USDA FoodData Central, with each label's date.

Ingredient list checker

Paste an ingredient list: every tracked dye or additive found, by FD&C name, lake, E or INS number, with its status in your state.

Dye laws by state

Pick a state and a dye or additive: the FDA rule, every state law that names it, and the date each one starts.

Natural food colors

The colors exempt from certification that replace synthetic dyes, the new ones the FDA approved since 2025, and two still on hold.

Laws and official pages behind this page

Written by

Independent publisher of a state-by-state tracker of food dye and additive laws in the United States, with an ingredient-list checker built on USDA FoodData Central

Laws and FDA orders checked on · Editorial policy · Contact

Food dye and additive rules 2026, read in each state law and in the Federal Register, last checked on