E153 (a plant-based charcoal)

E153, or vegetable carbon, is a black food colour produced from plant material after carbonisation. In foods it is used for colour: black, grey-black or graphite shades. It may appear in decorative products, confectionery, some cheeses, sauces, drinks and fashionable black foods. It is important not to confuse E153 as a food colour with activated charcoal used as a medicinal or sorbent product.

Black colour in food attracts attention and is often presented as unusual, detox-like, premium or artisanal. Vegetable carbon used as a colourant does not make a product cleansing, beneficial or low in carbohydrate. It creates a visual effect. If a black bun contains flour and sugar, it remains a flour product; if a black dessert is sweet, the colour does not change the metabolic load.

What the additive is

E153 is obtained from plant materials exposed to high temperature under controlled conditions. The result is a carbon-rich material with strong colouring power. For food use, the important point is not marketing language about naturalness, but specification: which impurities are allowed, how polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, toxic elements and particle characteristics are controlled.

This is why recent assessments and specification updates matter. In 2026 EFSA assessed data on impurities and particle size distribution in commercial samples of E153 after earlier data gaps had been identified. The practical message is simple: plant origin does not remove the need for quality control. Vegetable carbon for food must meet food-grade requirements; it is not just any black plant powder.

Difference from activated charcoal

Activated charcoal is used medically as a sorbent in specific situations because it can bind some substances in the gut. E153 in food is used as a colourant. These roles should not be mixed. A black lemonade, dessert or sauce containing E153 does not become a therapeutic product and should not be treated as a detox tool.

Regular use of charcoal-themed products can be problematic not because black colour is magical, but because of food behaviour. Such products are often bought for effect rather than satiety and nutrients. If they are sweet, flour-based or beverage-like, the person receives the usual load from sugar, starch, acids and flavourings, only in a more dramatic package.

Low-carbohydrate relevance

E153 itself is not a carbohydrate and should not meaningfully raise sugar load. The products containing it, however, can be very different. Black cheese, a sugar-free sauce and a black flour dessert are separate nutritional situations. For LCHF, grams of carbohydrate, the source of sweetness, starch, flour, syrups, maltodextrin and serving size matter more than the colour.

Products that present black colour as proof of health deserve particular caution. A low-carbohydrate diet is not built on visual effects. It is built on protein, natural fats, low-starch vegetables, minerals, fermented foods and reliable satiety. E153 can be a neutral detail if the product itself fits, but it does not make an unsuitable product suitable.

Tolerance and regularity

For most people, occasional intake of foods with E153 will not be the main wellbeing factor. If black drinks, desserts or snacks become regular, the wider pattern matters: sweet taste, acids, sweeteners, fibres, thickeners and other additives. The issue is not only the toxicology of the colourant, but also the habit reinforced by the product.

People taking medicines and supplements should not automatically treat charcoal-themed products as background if they contain a noticeable amount of carbon material. A food colour is usually used at technological levels, but when in doubt it is sensible to separate such foods from medicines and avoid making them a daily ritual. This is especially relevant for people with fragile digestion or complex treatment schedules.

How to read the label

On labels, E153 may appear as vegetable carbon, carbon black of vegetable origin or simply E153. The next step is to read the rest of the formula. If sugar, syrups, flour, starch, sweet fillings or large servings are present, the product should be assessed as sweet or flour-based. If it is a small component of a savoury food, the issue is usually less important.

Black colour can be an attractive culinary effect, but it should not replace nutritional value. A good diet remains understandable without dramatic colourants: meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, leafy greens, natural fats, nuts, fermented foods and simple sauces. In such a diet E153 may appear occasionally, but it does not become a foundation of eating.