Health and Safety Code section 109895

“Color additive” means a substance that satisfies both of the following requirements:

(a)

It is a dye, pigment, or other substance made by a process of synthesis or similar artifice, or extracted, isolated, or otherwise derived, with or without intermediate or final change of identity, from a vegetable, animal, mineral, or other source.

(b)

When added or applied to a food, drug, device, or cosmetic, or to the human body or any part of the body, it is capable, alone or through reaction with any other substance, of imparting color to the food, drug, device, or cosmetic, or to the human body or the part of the human body, to which it is added or applied.
The term “color additive” does not include any material that the department, by regulation, determines is used, or intended to be used, solely for a purpose or purposes other than coloring.
The term “color,” as used in this section, includes black, white, and intermediate grays.
This section does not apply to any pesticide chemical, soil, or plant nutrient, or other agricultural chemical, solely because of its effect in aiding, retarding, or otherwise affecting, directly or indirectly, the growth or other natural physiological process of produce of the soil and thereby affecting its color, whether before or after harvest.

Source: Section 109895, https://leginfo.­legislature.­ca.­gov/faces/codes_displaySection.­xhtml?lawCode=HSC§ionNum=109895.­ (accessed Apr. 24, 2025).

Last Updated

Apr. 24, 2025

§ 109895’s source at ca​.gov