FD&C Blue #2 Lake.
A synthetic blue pigment used to color supplement tablets. Purely cosmetic. The insoluble pigment form of a synthetic blue colour, used in tablet coatings. It gives an even blue shade and carries no nutritional role.
Reviewed March 2026
- Category
- General
- Also filed under
- Provides consistent tablet coloring
What FD&C Blue #2 Lake is, and what it does.
- Does it work
- It suits a coating that needs its shade to hold without bleeding, and it helps you tell one tablet from another. Anyone avoiding artificial colours can check for it by name.
- How much to take
- There is no amount to take. It is used at the level a coating needs for shade, and no daily figure is on record because it is not an active.
- Time to feel it
- The pigment sits in the coating and travels through the gut largely undissolved. It is a colourant rather than an active, so there is no onset to wait for.
- The first dose
- The pigment stays dispersed in the coating and travels through mostly undissolved. Day one is simply a coated tablet doing the job it was coated for.
- With regular use
- It is barely absorbed and does not accumulate, so weeks of use change nothing in the body. Its long-term job is keeping the coating colour even across a batch.
- How well tolerated
- FDA-approved. Minimally absorbed due to insoluble lake form.
- How it feels
- No taste and no sensation at coating levels. The only thing you register is the colour of the tablet in your hand.
- The overlooked benefit
- A lake is pigment dispersed rather than dissolved, so it will not bleed in a moist or fat-based coating and the shade holds even across a whole batch.
The proof, claim by claim.
These words describe the research, not the molecule's worth. Research strength is how much work stands behind one claim, and it is never a product score.
- Well tolerated at food-grade doses
Questions people ask about FD&C Blue #2 Lake.
- What's the difference between a 'lake' and a regular dye?
- Regular dyes dissolve in water. Lakes are fixed to a substrate (usually aluminum hydroxide) and are insoluble. Lakes are better for tablet coatings because they don't bleed.
- Is the aluminum hydroxide a concern?
- At the trace amounts in a tablet coating, no. It's the same antacid ingredient in Maalox.
- Should I avoid this?
- Health-wise, unnecessary at these amounts. If you prefer avoiding synthetic dyes, choose products with natural colorants.
No pairing data for FD&C Blue #2 Lake yet.
Nothing on file for FD&C Blue #2 Lake, either from a combination trial or from settled biochemistry. When either lands, it appears here with its source.
Stitching two separate single-ingredient studies into a pairing is the one thing this engine will not do. When a study of the combination itself holds up at source, it lands here with its citation.
No invented synergy. Where actives were studied on their own rather than together, each shows on its own evidence, never a combined effect no trial measured.
Research strength. Research strength says how much work stands behind the combination. It is never a product score.
Independent record. Every finding is cited to a named trial, dated, and never written by the brand.
24 pairings are live across the library today. Checked 25 August 2026.
Talk to a doctor before taking FD&C Blue #2 Lake if any of these apply to you: Synthetic colorant with no health benefit. These are flags to check first, not effects FD&C Blue #2 Lake is known to cause.
Not medical advice. Show the label to your pharmacist.FDA Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare provider before starting any supplement regimen.
