Brown HT
What it does
Brown colour.
How it's made
Synthetic dye.
Brown HT is a synthetic brown azo colour used to give brown shades to products such as chocolate-flavoured cakes and other baked goods, sometimes as an alternative to caramel colours where a different brown is wanted.
It is made by azo-dye synthesis from petroleum-derived aromatic compounds. Diazotisation and coupling reactions build the azo (nitrogen–nitrogen) linkages that produce the brown colour, and sulphonic-acid groups are incorporated so that the dye dissolves in water.
The dye is purified and standardised with limits on residual reactants, then supplied as a brown powder. As an azo colour permitted in the UK and EU, foods containing Brown HT must carry the warning about a possible adverse effect on activity and attention in children.
Possible reactions
May worsen hyperactivity in some children; caution in asthmatics.