Cochineal extract is obtained from the dried bodies of female Dactylopius coccus Costa insects (cochineal). The extract is used directly in food and is also processed further to carmines. Specifications exist for cochineal extract and carmines, both of which contain carminic acid as the colouring principle. The Committee evaluated cochineal extract at its eighteenth and twenty-first meetings but did not allocate an ADI (Annex 1, references 35 and 44). It evaluated carmines at its twenty-first, twenty-fifth, and twenty-sixth meetings (Annex 1, references 44, 56, and 59). At its twenty-sixth meeting, it allocated an ADI of 0–5 mg/kg bw for carmines, as ammonium carmine or the equivalent of calcium, potassium or sodium salts. It did not reconsider this ADI at its present meeting but responded to a request from the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 2000) to consider the potential allergenicity of cochineal extract, carmine and carminic acid, collectively referred to in this report as ‘cochineal colours’.