Food coloring

A food coloring is any substance that is added to food or drink to change its color. Food coloring is used both in commercial food production and in domestic cooking. Due to its safety and general availability, food coloring is also used in a variety of non-food applications, for example in home craft projects and educational settings.

Purpose of food coloring

People associate certain colors with certain flavors, and the color of food can influence the perceived flavor, in anything from candy to wine. ^[1] For this reason, food manufacturers add dyes to their products. Sometimes the aim is to simulate a color that is perceived by the consumer as natural, such as adding red coloring to glacé cherries (which would otherwise be beige), but sometimes it is for effect, like the green ketchup that Heinz launched in 2000.

While most consumers are aware that foods with bright or unnatural colors (such as the green ketchup mentioned above or children's cereals such as Froot Loops) likely contain food coloring, far fewer people know that seemingly "natural" foods such as oranges and salmon are sometimes also dyed to mask natural variations in color.^[2] Color variation in foods throughout the seasons and the effects of processing and storage often make color addition commercially advantageous to maintain the color expected or preferred by the consumer. Some of the primary reasons include:

Regulation

Food colorings are tested for safety by various bodies around the world and sometimes different bodies have different views on food color safety. In the United States, FD&C (generally indicates that the FDA has approved the colorant for use in Foods, Drugs and Cosmetics) numbers are given to approved synthetic food dyes that do not exist in nature, while in the European Union, E numbers are used for all additives, both synthetic and natural, that are approved in food applications.

Most other countries have their own regulations and list of food colors which can be used in various applications, including maximum daily intake limits.

Natural colors are not required to be tested by a number of regulatory bodies throughout the world, including the United States FDA.

Natural food dyes

A growing number of natural food dyes are being commercially produced, partly due to consumer concerns surrounding synthetic dyes. Some examples include:

To ensure reproducibility, the colored components of these substances are often provided in highly purified form, and for increased stability and convenience, they can be formulated in suitable carrier materials (solid and liquid).

Artifical Coloring in United States

Seven dyes were initially approved under the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, but several have been delisted and replacements have been found. ^[3]

Current seven

In the USA, the following seven artificial colorings are permitted in food (the most common in bold) as of 2007:

Delisted

Dyes and lakes

In the United States, certifiable color additives are available for use in food as either "dyes" or "lakes".

Dyes dissolve in water, but are not soluble in oil. Dyes are manufactured as powders, granules, liquids or other special purpose forms. They can be used in beverages, dry mixes, baked goods, confections, dairy products, pet foods and a variety of other products. Dyes also have side effects which lakes do not, including the fact that large amounts of dyes ingested can color stools.

Lakes are the combination of dyes and insoluble material. Lakes tint by dispersion. Lakes are not oil soluble, but are oil dispersible. Lakes are more stable than dyes and are ideal for coloring products containing fats and oils or items lacking sufficient moisture to dissolve dyes. Typical uses include coated tablets, cake and donut mixes, hard candies and chewing gums, lipsticks, soaps, shampoos, talc etc.

Other uses

Because food dyes are generally safer to use than normal artistic dyes and pigments, some artists have used food coloring as a means of making pictures, especially in forms such as body-painting. Food colorings can be used to dye fabric, but are usually not washfast when used on cotton, hemp and other plant fibres. Some food dyes can be fixed on Nylon and animal fibers.

Criticism and health implications

Though past research showed no correlation between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and food dyes^[6]^[7], new studies now point to synthetic preservatives and artificial coloring agents as aggravating ADD & ADHD symptoms, both in those affected by these disorders and in the general population^[8]^[9]; Older studies were inconclusive quite possibly due to inadequate clinical methods of measuring offending behavior. Parental reports were more accurate indicators of the presence of additives than clinical tests. ^[10] Several major studies show academic performance increased and disciplinary problems decreased in large non-ADD student populations when artificial ingredients, including artificial colors were eliminated from school food programs.^[11]^[12]

References

^ Jeannine Delwiche (2004). "The impact of perceptual interactions on perceived flavor". Food Quality and Preference 15: 137–146. doi:10.1016/S0950-3293(03)00041-7.
^ ^a ^b "FDA/CFSAN Food Color Facts". Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "News of Food; U. S. May Outlaw Dyes Used to Tint Oranges and Other Foods", New York Times (January 19, 1954, Tuesday). Retrieved on 2007-08-21. "The use of artificial colors to make foods more attractive to the eye may be sharply curtailed by action of the United States Food and Drug Administration. Three of the most extensively used coal tar dyes are being considered for removal from the Government's list of colors certified as safe for internal and external use and consumption."
^ "Red No. 3 and Other Colorful Controversies". FDA. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. “FDA terminated the provisional listings for FD&C Red No. 3 on January 29, 1990, at the conclusion of its review of the 200 straight colors on the 1960 provisional list. Commonly called erythrosine, FD&C Red No. 3 is a tint that imparts a watermelon-red color and was one of the original seven colors on Hesse's list.”
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Food coloring", Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. "Among the colours that have been “delisted,” or disallowed, in the United States are FD&C Orange No. 1; FD&C Red No. 32; FD&C Yellows No. 1, 2, 3, and 4; FD&C Violet No. 1; and FD&C Reds No. 2 and 4. Many countries with similar food colouring controls (including Canada and Great Britain) also ban the use of Red No. 40, and Yellow No. 5 is also undergoing testing."
^ Wilens TE, Biederman J, Spencer TJ. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder across the lifespan. Annual Review of Medicine, 2002:53:113-131
^ The MTA Cooperative Group. A 14-month randomized clinical trial of treatment strategies for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Archives of General Psychiatry, 1999;56:1073-1086
^ Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial”, Lancet, Sept 2007
^ 1997 Graduate Student Research Project conducted at the University of South Florida. Author- Richard W. Pressinger M.Ed.
^ "Food Additives May Affect Kids' Hyperactivity", WebMD Medical News, May 24, 2004
^ A different kind of school lunch", PURE FACTS October 2002
^ The Impact of a Low Food Additive and Sucrose Diet on Academic Performance in 803 New York City Public Schools, Schoenthaler SJ, Doraz WE, Wakefield JA, Int J Biosocial Res., 1986, 8(2); 185-195
^ Jpn J Cancer Res. 1988 Mar;79(3):314-9

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