Banned or restricted substance
Is Rhodamine B banned in India?
Last checked 21 September 2026
Rhodamine B is not a permitted food colour in India under regulation 3.1.2 and is prohibited in any food; Tamil Nadu (February 2024) and Karnataka (March 2024) issued orders after finding it in street food.
- Classification
- Prohibited (Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006)
- Decided by
- FSSAI; Tamil Nadu and Karnataka food safety commissioners
- Reference
- Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, regulation 3.1.2 (permitted colours); Tamil Nadu order Feb 2024 and Karnataka order Mar 2024
- Latest action
- 1 March 2024
- Last checked
- 21 September 2026
Photo: Free mixed spice local market by rawpixel (cc0). All photo credits.
Safe here, banned there: what India's food regulations actually say
Our team has checked this record against the published reports, last on 21 September 2026. The government order itself is not published online, or we have not found it yet, so we link the best public report. If you have the order, send it to us and we will link it instead.
Scope. A record here does not by itself mean a product or company is unsafe or banned today. Regulatory actions can apply to one batch, one formulation, one period or one state. Always check the linked government document for the current position, and tell us if something is out of date. How we label records.
Below: Blacklisted's explanationWe explain what has been reported. The report above is the best source we hold.
Key facts
- What it is
- A pink-red textile dye; a suspected carcinogen
- National status
- Not on the permitted colour list, prohibited in all foods
- Tamil Nadu
- Ban on cotton candy containing Rhodamine B, February 2024
- Karnataka
- Ban on Rhodamine B in gobi manchurian and cotton candy, March 2024
- Also seen in
- Chilli powder, sweets, sauces
Rhodamine B is a fluorescent pink dye made for textiles and paper. It is cheap, intensely coloured and toxic, and it has no place in food anywhere. In India the Food Additives Regulations list the synthetic colours that may be used, and Rhodamine B is not among them; under regulation 3.1.2 any colour not on the list is prohibited in all foods.
The dye became a public issue in early 2024. Tamil Nadu's food safety department tested cotton candy sold on Chennai beaches and found Rhodamine B, prompting a state ban on the product in February 2024. Karnataka followed in March 2024 after finding the dye in gobi manchurian, the fluorescent-orange street-food staple, and in cotton candy; the state prohibited its use and set penalties for vendors. Other states issued advisories.
The state orders did not create a new prohibition, the dye was already banned nationally, but they gave inspectors a product-specific instrument and generated the search interest that persists. Rhodamine B has also been found in adulterated chilli powder and sweets, where it is used to boost colour. Its presence is detectable by simple field tests, and enforcement rests with state food safety officers.
What this means for you
Only eight synthetic colours are permitted
Anything else on a label, or any street food with an unnatural colour, is a red flag. Permitted colours must be declared by name or INS number.
Street food is where these turn up
Enforcement cases usually involve loose sweets, sauces, chilli powder and snacks, not packaged goods from licensed manufacturers.
This is a record of official orders, not medical advice. Do not stop a prescribed medicine without asking your doctor or pharmacist.
Official sources and primary records
- News