[2] The colorant was discovered by Swiss chemist Karl Kussmaul at the University of Basel in 1876 and soon commercialized by local Bindschedler & Busch company for dyeing wool and silk.

It is used as a food coloring,[11] printing ink,[12] biological stain,[13] dental plaque disclosing agent,[14] radiopaque medium,[13] sensitizer for orthochromatic photographic films, and visible light photoredox catalyst.

[15] Erythrosine is commonly used in sweets, such as some candies, ice pops and cherries, and in cake-decorating gels.

[16][21] In the United States, laboratory evidence of carcinogenicity by extremely high doses of erythrosine renders it as "unsafe" under federal law by a provision called the Delaney Clause, despite conclusions by the federal Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and Cancer Assessment Committee that the risk of developing cancer in humans is unlikely at the low erythrosine levels consumed as a food color.

[16][22] Throughout the early 21st century, the World Health Organization and several national food safety agencies permitted use of erythrosine as a color additive under restrictions that it be used in amounts below acceptable daily intake levels for certain foods, such as for packaged cherries; countries having restricted-use provisions were the European Union, United States, Canada, and Australia/New Zealand.

[16] An October 2023 bill passed in the state of California also banned the use of erythrosine in foods (along with brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, and propylparaben), with enforcement beginning on 1 January 2027.