[10] Allura Red has been heavily studied by food safety groups in North America and Europe, and remains in wide use.
[12] The UK's Food Standards Agency commissioned a study of six food dyes (tartrazine, Allura red, Ponceau 4R, Quinoline Yellow, sunset yellow, carmoisine (dubbed the "Southampton 6")), and sodium benzoate (a preservative) on children in the general population, who consumed them in beverages.
[13] Allura Red AC has previously been banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Sweden.
[17] This changed in 2008, when the EU adopted a common framework for authorizing food additives,[18] under which Allura Red AC is not currently banned.
[16] In Norway and Iceland, it was banned between 1978 and 2001, a period in which azo dyes were only legally used in alcoholic beverages and some fish products.