Most processed foods have color additives. Colors are added to foods such as soft drinks, candies, bakery items, ice cream, etc. to improve their appearance and make them look appealing to the consumers. Color additives can be artificial or natural.


Many artificial colors are made from petrochemicals and coal tar. Their effect on the health of consumers is rarely taken into account.

In addition to food, colors are also added to many pharmaceutical drugs and vitamin supplements.


They are often added in children's medicines to make them look appealing to the children. Every now and then, we hear reports of banned additives found in children's medicine or food.

Food additives have been found to cause skin rashes, eczema, urticaria, exfoliative dermatitis, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, rhinitis, bronchospasm, migraine, angioedema, anaphylaxis, hyperactivity and other behavioral disorders (1).

Dr. Benjamin Feingold of Kaiser Permanente Hospital in San Francisco has done extensive research on the effect of artificial colors on health, especially on children. He found that artificial food dyes cause behavioral disorders and learning disabilities (2). Parents need to take these findings seriously.

Over the past few decades, several synthetic colors have been found to cause diseases such as Cancer and were banned and withdrawn from the market. The health safety of many colors that are currently being used as additives, remains questionable, and a cause of concern for many consumer advocates.

In 2007, a team of scientists in Southampton University, UK, found that synthetic food colours cause psychological harm to normal healthy children. These findings are in line with Dr. Feingold's research. Following the findings of this study, the following six colours are being phased out in the UK:

Sunset yellow (E110)
Carmoisine (E122) - Red color
Tartrazine (E102)
Ponceau 4R (E124) - Red color
Quinoline yellow (E104)
Allura red AC (E129) - Orange/red dye

The above colors are still widely used in many countries, including the US.

The US state of Maryland has become the first state to propose a legislation, if approved, would require the food packages containing artificial colors to carry the label: "Warning: The color additives in this food may cause hyperactivity and behavior problems in some children" effective from January 1, 2010. Maryland is also proposing to phase out the following colors by December 31, 2011:

Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Orange B, Red 40 and Red 3

Not all natural colors are safe. Natural color additives are those that are derived from plant or animal sources by extraction or other physical processing. Examples of Some frequently used ones are annatto extract, carmine or cochineal, grape skin extract, saffron, turmeric, and beta-carotene. A study done by Lucas et al. (3) found that although natural colors are generally safe, additives such as annatto dye and carmine have caused adverse reactions in consumers.

While shopping, consumers need to read the labels of food packages carefully to see if they contain anything "artificial" such as a color, preservative, flavoring, etc.


Wishing you Health, Wealth, Love and Happiness,
Pankaj Kotak


REFERENCES

1.    Smith JM. Adverse reactions to food and drug additives. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1991;45 (Suppl.l):17-21.

 

2.    Feingold BFF Hyperkinesis and learning disabilities linked to the ingestion of artificial food colors and flavorss Journal of Learn Disabilities, 1976;9:19-277

33    Lucas CD, et all THE ROLE OF NATURAL COLOR ADDITIVES IN FOOD ALLERGYY Advances in food and nutrition research, 20011

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