Artificial Food Colour: Harmful or Harmless?

 

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash          Edited by ConSCIENCE

We all love to eat different colourful stuffs like chocolates, cookies, sweets, ice creams, candies etc., those primarily having artificial food colours. But, is it safe for our health? Is artificial food colour harmful or harmless?

Let’s talk a bit. Artificial colours are used to intensify the natural colour of food or to bring a vibrant colour to make it more appealing.

Bright coloured food attracts a lot of people specially children and we all eat those foods without being aware of some health risks of such food colours.

Consumption of artificial food colours are now increased 500% in the last 50 years and side by side associated health issues are also increasing, like hyperactivity in children, allergy and most importantly Cancer, as the worst fate.

This article brings you about the knowledge of some harmful artificial food colours that should be avoided.

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What is artificial food colour or food dye?

Colourful foods look very nice and it attracts us more. Children are very fond of those colours. Those colourful foods contain artificial food dye which are mainly a chemical compound used for a better appearance by adding a great colour to it.

It is a fact that, nowadays many artificial colours are produced as petroleum by-products or from some raw materials obtained from coal tar since before.

Most of the food colours were toxic in past. After so many testing for toxicity, nowadays very few food dyes are used in the food. Till we need to be very careful for those artificial food colours before ingestion [1].

USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have approved some of the food colour, but not all the food colours as safe in all country, some dyes are used in one country whereas banned in other country. So, you need a clear knowledge regarding those dyes before consumption.  

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Some artificial food colours

There are six FDA approved food dyes available in which Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6 are the most common food colours used in different foods. FDA permitted artificial food colours are as follows:

Red 3 or Erythrosine (Cherry Red)

Red 40 or Allura Red (Dark Red)

Yellow 6 (Sunset Yellow)

Yellow 5 or Tartrazine (Lemon Yellow)

Blue 1 or Brilliant Blue (Greenish Blue)

Blue 2 or Indigo Blue (Royal Blue)

Another two food dyes i.e. Citrus Red 2 and Green 3 are also available in America but banned in Europe [2].

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) permits eight artificial food colours, of which six are used, i.e. Red 3, Yellow 5 and 6, Blue 1, Carmoisine and Ponceau 4R.

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Food that contains artificial colours

This food dyes are widely used in candy, cake icing, energy drink, soft drinks, cereals, sauces, ice cream, baked foods etc.

Here you can found a detail list of foods that may contain artificial food colours or food dyes. These are as follows:

Colourful chocolates

Sweets

Cookies

Popcorns

Ice creams

Candies

Doughnuts

Beverages

Fruit juices

Cereals

Tomato ketchup

Snacks

Hot dog

Energy drink

Sports drink

Baked goods

Frosting and cake icing

Beside this, artificial food colours are used in pickle of some brands or salads, even in medication.

Image by Hans Schwarzkopf from Pixabay

Is artificial food colour safe or not?

Our intake of food dyes are increasing day by day. Nowadays, our breakfast cereals to desserts are more colourful.

There are, some natural colorants from ‘beet’ are available but, manufacturers are opting for synthetic food dyes as it has a wide variety and good intensity of colour, but it has dangerous side effects and health issues specially on children.

Nowadays, researchers are trying to establish the risk factors of some available food dyes in the market. Some food dyes have showed hyperactivity, allergies, learning impairment, irritability, sleeping problem, memory loss, depression, restlessness and aggressiveness in children [3].

Research is underway regarding these behavioural changes in children. A pediatric allergist first established the correlation between the hyperactivity in children and consumption of food colours.

There is so many controversies regarding its cancer causing potentiality and we found a mixed response. Most serious consequences were found regarding Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6. It contains some harmful ingredients like benzidine, 4-amioazobenzene and 4-amiobiphenyl that potentially causes cancer [4]. Though this chemicals are till added to the foods as it is present in very low quantity and presumed to be harmless if consumed limitedly.

There is a controversy regarding the ability of the cancer producing power of Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6. Many studies have declared the mentioned dyes safe as there is not enough example of causing cancer [5].

In India, indiscriminate use of Blue 1 in sweet is responsible for asthma, liver damage and renal failure.  

Whereas, other food colours were tested and found positive for causing brain tumour in animals. It is reported that Blue 2 and 3 are also responsible for tumour in animals. But, there is again controversy that if these two dyes are mainly responsible for tumour or not [6].

While, Red 3 is another controversial dye, there is not enough evidence that it alone can cause the thyroid tumours in male rats [7].

So, food dyes are sometimes harmful or sometimes harmless. More research is needed to prove all the consequences regarding overeating of food colours [8].

Food colour in Indian Perspective

In India, to attract the low budget customers a general malpractice is to use unhealthy, cheap food colours, mostly, avoiding the recommended ones. One example is the use of “Metanil Yellow”.

Metanil yellow is a non permitted synthetic dye widely used in India, specially in West Bengal by different unorganized sectors in turmeric powder, besan, sweets like ‘Laddu’ and ‘Mihidana’ [9].

It is a banned dye by PFA Act, 1954, Govt. of India, and it is mean to be used only in industrial purpose, but this industrial dye is predominantly used by the cheap unorganized sector in human food.

Metanil yellow is an azo dye, derived from benzidine and known to be carcinogenic to human and others animals. Studies showed that metabolism of azo dyes converted to aromatic amines by gut bacteria which are potentially carcinogenic and mutagenic [10].

Your favourite ‘laddos’ may be rich in metanil yellow which leads to insufficient oxygen supply to skin and mucous membranes. It shows degenerative changes in the stomach, abdomen, liver, kidney and testes [11]. 

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ConScience

Colourful foods look good but for the sake of your health try to invest in natural colour food items, not in artificial food colour. Because, it can be very dangerous to our health as there is not a clear vision in front of us.

Therefore, considering the cancer causing ability of the food dyes and some behavioural changes in children, we should refrain ourselves from eating those brightly coloured foods.

If you are concerned about the food colours, then  just see the back labels, mainly for Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6 before buying any packaged food, I mean whenever it is possible to check [12].

A campaign was launched regarding health risks of synthetic food colours by the ‘Bakers Association’ to avoid the artificial colour containing food in a whole [13]. Such awareness programmes and sensitization through literature are much needed to fight against this potential havoc. So, please avoid coloured foods as much as you can and have a happy life...