What Is Blue 40? (It Does Not Exist: Blue 1 vs Blue 2 Explained)
Chapters
- The Short Answer
- Why There Is No Blue 40
- Blue 1 and Blue 2
- Names on a Label
- Where Blue Hides
- What Regulators Say
- Natural Blues
- How to Avoid Blue Dye
- Your Turn
Audio from the Clean Food Score video of the same name; the video shows the labels and scores on screen.
What is Blue 40? There is no Blue 40 food dye. The real FDA certified blues are Blue 1 (Brilliant Blue FCF, E133) and Blue 2 (Indigo Carmine, E132). We cover their label names, what they are made from, where blue hides (green and purple foods too), what regulators say as of October 2026, and natural blues like spirulina and butterfly pea.
Full guide and the products we checked
Check any ingredient list free
Chapters
0:00 The Short Answer
0:32 Why There Is No Blue 40
0:58 Blue 1 and Blue 2
1:35 Names on a Label
2:03 Where Blue Hides
2:31 What Regulators Say
3:10 Natural Blues
3:50 How to Avoid Blue Dye
4:20 Your Turn
Product scores are Clean Food Score's 0–100 label scores as shown on cleanfoodscore.com on 2026-10-16. Recipes change, so read the package you buy. We read labels; this is not medical advice.
Music
"Carefree" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
"Fresh Air" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
"Almost Bliss" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Sound effects: Kenney (kenney.nl), CC0.
#blue40 #fooddye #foodlabels