Tag: Synthetic pigments

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), D&C Red No. 30 is a certified color additive approved for use in drugs and cosmetics. But what is red 30 dye made of? This vibrant pigment is a synthetic chemical compound, a fact that often surprises consumers accustomed to natural dyes.

The first synthetic organic dye, mauveine, was accidentally discovered in 1856 by chemist William Henry Perkin, marking the birth of the modern synthetic color industry. This breakthrough fundamentally changed color production by introducing man-made colors, which are chemically manufactured in a lab rather than extracted from natural sources like plants or minerals.

While it can be produced synthetically in a lab, iron oxide red is fundamentally an inorganic compound that also occurs naturally as the mineral hematite. This dual nature means that depending on its source, iron oxide red can be either a natural pigment or an artificial one, not a dye in the traditional sense.