The Potential Weekly Intake (PWI) of artificial food colours by 3-14-year-old children living in the District of Barão Geraldo, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, was estimated on the basis of average consumption data of artificially coloured food and analytically determined colour concentration in foodstuffs ingested. Coloured food consumption data were obtained through dietary recall interviews and collection of the packages and/or labels of the coloured foods consumed during a two-week period. Colours found in the individual types of foods detected through the consumption survey were identified and determined by methods that included wool dyeing and polyamide column extractions, ascending paper chromatography and spectrophotometry. The results showed that all artificial colours used in the composition of 83 commercial food products, including jellies, juices, soft drinks, syrups and 57 different candies, were permitted for use in food in Brazil the year the survey was conducted (1986), in amounts below those prescribed by law. Statistical analysis performed to compare the PWI for different population groups demonstrated that young male children, especially from lower social classes, were most exposed to artificial colours. Comparison of the estimated potential intakes with the toxicologically Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) showed that consumption of Amaranth, Sunset Yellow, Indigotine and Tartrazine by all children in the study represented approximately 24%, 3%, 0.05% and 0.4%, of the actual ADI values, respectively.