Can the food dye tartrazine in snacks and drinks damage your kidneys?

What's actually in it

Tartrazine, also known as Yellow 5 or E102, is a synthetic food dye that gives foods a bright yellow color. You'll find it in mac and cheese, candy, sports drinks, chips, mustard, pickles, and cake mixes. It's one of the most widely used food dyes in the world.

Kids eat a lot of tartrazine because it's in so many foods marketed to children. A single serving of brightly colored candy or a sports drink can contain several milligrams of this dye. Over a day of eating typical kid foods, the total adds up fast.

What the research says

A 2026 study in the Journal of Biochemical and Molecular Toxicology investigated what tartrazine does to the kidneys. The researchers found clear evidence of kidney damage from tartrazine exposure.

Tartrazine triggered oxidative stress in kidney cells. That means it created an overload of harmful molecules called free radicals that damage cell structures. The kidneys' built-in antioxidant defenses couldn't keep up.

The result was measurable impaired kidney function. Markers that doctors use to check kidney health were worse in the tartrazine-exposed group. The damage was dose-dependent: more tartrazine meant more damage.

The study also tested quercetin, a natural compound found in onions, apples, and berries, and found it protected the kidneys from tartrazine's effects. That's good news for researchers looking for solutions, but it doesn't mean you should eat tartrazine and hope quercetin will fix it.

The simplest approach: check labels for tartrazine, Yellow 5, or E102. Choose snacks and drinks that use natural coloring or no coloring at all. Your kidneys filter everything you eat and drink. The less synthetic dye they have to deal with, the better.