Foods

Dyes and additives in soda

Soft drinks were the product BVO was used in, and red and orange sodas are among the most colored drinks. The labels on file tell both stories.

Search labeled products by category and dye

Soda: products whose label lists a tracked dye or additive

2,608 of 7,922

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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.

Among the 7,922 soda products counted in USDA FoodData Central, 33% name at least one tracked substance. Red 40 leads at 21%, in red, orange and fruit-punch flavors; Yellow 5 is on 11% and Blue 1 on 9%. Colas are colored with caramel, which is outside the laws covered here. The figure that stands out is brominated vegetable oil: 8% of soda labels still list it, although the FDA revoked its use on August 2, 2024 and the compliance date passed on August 2, 2025. Those records were filed before reformulation and have not been replaced in the data set; a soda bought today should not contain BVO anywhere in the United States. In schools, the state rules apply to any colored drink a school sells, on top of the federal standards for drinks sold on campus.

How common is this ingredient in a food category?

Soda whose label lists Red 40

21%

Products listing it1,687
Products in the category7,922

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

How to read an old BVO label

Use the label date in the search above: a soda record from 2021 that lists BVO says what the can said in 2021. If you have a current can that still lists it, the product would not meet federal rules. The BVO page gives the dates and the federal rule.

Diet versions of colored sodas use the same dyes as the regular ones; the sweetener does not change the color rules.

What the labels list, substance by substance

7,922 products, 7,918 with an ingredient list; USDA FoodData Central, Branded Foods, release of October 29, 2026.
SubstanceProductsShare of the category
Red 401,68721.3%
Red 320.0%
Yellow 584010.6%
Yellow 67119.0%
Blue 17459.4%
BVO5997.6%
Titanium dioxide10.0%
BHA310.4%

Questions people ask

How many soda products were counted, and how recent are their labels?

7,922 products, one per barcode, from the USDA FoodData Central Branded Foods release of October 29, 2026. 2,608 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 soda?

Red 40, on 1,687 labels or 21.3% of the category, followed by Yellow 5 (840) and Blue 1 (745). 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 soda 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

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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