Edible pigments are divided into natural pigments and synthetic pigments.

Natural edible pigments are pigments extracted directly from animal and plant tissues, which are generally harmless to human body, such as red rice, chlorophyll, curcumin, carotene, amaranth and sugar color, and so on.

Synthetic food pigments are made from aniline dyes separated from coal tar, so they are also called coal tar pigments or aniline pigments, such as synthetic amaranth, carmine and lemon yellow. These synthetic pigments are harmful to human body, because they are easy to induce poisoning, diarrhea and even cancer, so they should not be used more or not as much as possible.