I'm doing a cake for my son's Halloween party next Monday which I'm so excited for, but one of the kids in his class has an allergy to red die. My question is: Can i even use orange food coloring? Or is there a way to get orange with out using red 40? THanks!!!

No any color derived from red will cause the allergy! I am allergic to red dyes in Medicine. So orange, peach, pink, maroon etc will cause the allergy! It totally bites trust me!! You would be amazed how much has red dye i

Most powdered food coloring other than red does not contain Red 40. For example, powdered orange food coloring contains only dextrose and Yellow 5, which is typically derived from a synthetic compound called tartrazine, as opposed to the petroleum-based Red 40.

http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/coloring/powdered.htm#ingred

Of course some people have allergies to several different synthetic food dyes, in which case you would want to use natural dyes from India Tree.

I think you can get dye free food color at Whole Foods Market.

Another option to explore is beet juice. Many bakers use this to color their red velvet cake vs. red dye. If you using other colors on the cake, I would take the advice of the others who posted.

Check out

www.indiatree.com Look at their Natural Decorating Colours

They are supposed to be all natural no added dyes. Maybe they would work. I have never used them but I know people who have and they like them.