Some colorants are advised to be avoided due to potential health risks or allergic reactions. A few examples:
- Tartrazine (E102). A yellow dye that can cause allergic reactions in some people and has been linked to hyperactivity in children.
- Allura Red AC (E129). Can cause allergic reactions and hyperactivity; banned in some countries.
- Ponceau 4R (E124). A red dye that can cause allergic reactions and hyperactivity.
- Amaranth (E123). A red dye associated with allergic reactions and potential carcinogenic effects.
- Brilliant Blue FCF (E133). Can cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals.
- Black PN (E151). A black dye that can cause allergic reactions in some people.
- Patent Blue V (E131). Another dye that can cause allergic reactions.
- Green S (E142). Can cause allergic reactions and hyperactivity in some individuals.
Click "Where is this found?" to see other ingredients appearing on Tiiips.
Studies
There is a growing warning regarding the toxicity of synthetic colorants that are widely used by the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetics industries due to their low cost, high stability and to improve the sensory and organoleptic characteristics of the product, which may change during processing. While these colorants improve the appearance of a product, they can also pose a potential risk to human health with undesirable side effects especially when used continuously as they are absorbed through the skin or mucous membranes. For this reason, over the course of time, many of the colorants that were regularly placed on the commercial circuit with regular authorisation by the control authorities have subsequently been banned and withdrawn from the market following more in-depth examinations of their hazardousness to human health. For example, azo dyes, which are among the most widely used, have been shown to produce carcinogenic aromatic amines in the intestine via enzymes or bacteria in the body (1).
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration), which is the body responsible for regulating artificial food colourings in the United States, has required food manufacturers to declare the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for those colourings that may pose a health risk. Now, this is an acceptable and generally agreeable decision, but the problem arises with so-called 'cumulation', i.e. the repeated and continuous consumption of the same product or another product containing the same colouring agent. The same problem arises in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. In a recent study (2), the FDA came to the conclusion that the ADI is regularly exceeded by a certain part of the population in most of the cases examined.
Bibliografia_____________________________________________________________________
(1) Feng J, Cerniglia CE, Chen H. Toxicological significance of azo dye metabolism by human intestinal microbiota. Front Biosci (Elite Ed). 2012 Jan 1;4(2):568-86. doi: 10.2741/e400.
(2) Bradman A, Castorina R, Thilakaratne R, Gillan M, Pattabhiraman T, Nirula A, Marty M, Miller MD. Dietary Exposure to United States Food and Drug Administration-Approved Synthetic Food Colors in Children, Pregnant Women, and Women of Childbearing Age Living in the United States. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 5;19(15):9661. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19159661.
