Made from fermented tomato cores and skins, manufacturers added vinegar to flavour and preserve it, and dye to make it red. Because the resulting sauce was prone to explode, canners started adding benzoate of soda modern E as a preservative.
Henry Heinz proved ketchup could be made without benzoate in a clean factory using ripe tomatoes. Food labels rarely reported more than the name and manufacturer of the product in the early s. Without a regulating body, the food industry was free to use any substance it chose to colour, disguise or prolong the freshness of products.
In , the Pure Food and Drugs Act a. Hesse found that, of the 80 or so artificial colours available at the time, only 16 were more or less harmless and he recommended only seven for use in food. The next couple of decades saw a process of eliminating colours that caused recurrent adverse health effects in the public. Throughout the s and s, it became clear that the Pure Food and Drugs Act of did not go far enough to protect the American public from misrepresented products. The FDA launched a new round of toxicological investigations.
The original list of seven colorants which had grown to sixteen was reduced back to seven, but included only two of the original seven. The Colour Additive Amendments of defined "colour additive" and required that only colour additives listed as "suitable and safe" for a given use could be used in foods, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices.
Over the next few years, the FDA found that several artificial food colours caused serious adverse effects and proceeded to terminate their listings until today only a handful remain authorised for use in the US seven for regular use and two allowed by the FDA for specific limited applications. The same trend of a reduction in the number of synthetic colours authorised for use in foods can be seen in the EU and the monitoring system, which began with the establishment of the Public Analysts in the 19th century, is still essential today for the protection of consumer health.
The first EU directive focussing on the use of colorants in foods was published in ; 36 colours were allowed — 20 of them were natural colours and 16 were synthetic and all were considered safe for human consumption. Red 2G was removed in due to safety concerns. Why has EFSA been assessing colours in recent years? Since , EFSA has been reviewing the safety of all food additives which had been approved for use in the EU up until that point.
Many additives were initially authorised for use a long time ago and in some cases new scientific data have since become available. Food colours were re-evaluated first as they were among the first food additives to be authorised for use in the EU.
The re-evaluation of previously authorised food colours is scheduled to be completed by For example, the purity requirements in the food and feed areas can differ considerably. Statement on Allura Red AC and other sulphonated mono azo dyes authorised as food and feed additives Scientific opinion on the safety of Allura Red AC in feed for cats and dogs Genotoxins are substances that can damage DNA, the genetic material of cells, and result in mutations or cancer.
Genotoxicity is one of a number of factors that scientists assess when evaluating the safety of additives and other substances added to food.
However, currently the overall weight of evidence suggests that they are not genotoxic. Weight of evidence describes the consideration, where there is uncertainty , of information that either supports or opposes a particular outcome and then making a decision based on the most convincing evidence. People make personal weight of evidence decisions all the time in their daily lives. In risk assessment, the type of evidence considered is highly technical and often difficult to understand for a non-scientist.
However, there are well-established steps in the analysis and evaluation of scientific information that help scientists to weigh up all the evidence and make decisions relying on their scientific knowledge and expertise. As part of the safety evaluation of food additives such as colours risk assessors like EFSA establish, when possible i. The ADI is generally derived by looking at the highest intake level at which substances do not cause harmful effects in animal experiments and applying a safety factor typically of to account for differences between humans and animals.
This means that even if people exceed the ADI for a certain substance, this will not necessarily cause negative health effects. In the case of food additives, a substance used in an additive is ingested directly via food. For feed additives for food-producing animals livestock , consumers can be exposed indirectly.
Residues of the substance may be present in such animal-derived products as meat, eggs or dairy products. Regulators set limits for feed additives called maximum residue levels MRLs to ensure that consumer exposure to the residues of these products is below the Acceptable Daily Intake for consumers.
The safety evaluation of feed additives also takes into consideration potential adverse effects of these substances on the target animal i. As well as food-producing animals, target animals could be pets and other domesticated animals for example, horses.
European Union legislation specifies in which foods they can be used and the maximum amounts that can be added per food type. Feed use also varies by colour. On the other hand, the colours Patent Blue V E and Erythrosine E are authorised as feed additive for a variety of non-food producing animals, including cats, dogs, ornamental fish and reptiles.
The data indicated that both average and high-level consumption levels are generally considerably higher for children than for adults. Since then, new data have emerged on the actual levels of most of these colours found in food.
Based on these data, EFSA is currently revising its assessments of human exposure to these original ten colours. These re-assessments are scheduled for completion by November Several factors are taken into account to calculate exposure through food or feed to potential risks. Among them are: diet, age, geographical location and consumption patterns e. These factors differ greatly for humans and animals.
Take for instance, the much greater variety of foods making up the human diet. Animals typically consume the same feed on a daily basis whereas people usually vary their diet throughout the day and the week.
The food people have for breakfast, lunch and dinner in a single day can already contain a greater variety of ingredients and nutrients than animals eat in a lifetime.
Also the average lifetime of most farm animals and domestic pets is shorter than for humans. When a typical solute, such as salt or sugar, is added to water, it dissolves, meaning it is broken down into individual ions or molecules.
For instance, individual molecules of sugar C 12 H 22 O 11 are held together by relatively weak intermolecular forces. So when sugar dissolves in water, the attractive forces between the individual molecules are overcome, and these molecules are released into solution.
Food-coloring molecules are usually ionic solids, that is, they contain positive and negative ions, which are held together by ionic bonds. When one of these solids dissolves in water, the ions that form the solid are released into the solution, where they become associated with the polar water molecules, which have partially negative and partially positive charges. Another important property of food coloring is that when it is dissolved in water, the color remains.
The reason this happens is that food-coloring molecules absorb some wavelengths of light and let others pass through, resulting in the color we see Fig. Absorption of light is caused by bringing an electron in a molecule, atom, or ion to a higher energy level. Sugar molecules or the ions in salt require a large amount of energy to do that, so they do not absorb visible light but only light of shorter wavelength—typically ultraviolet light. Figure 4. A food dye will appear a particular color because it absorbs light whose color is complementary to the food dye's color, as illustrated here in the case of a a blue dye, and b a red dye.
Instead, food-coloring molecules typically contain long swaths of alternating single and double bonds Figs. The energy required for an electron to jump from that excited state to the ground state corresponds to the energy of visible light, which is why food-coloring molecules can absorb light from the visible spectrum. It is tempting to think that natural products are healthier than artificial ones. But that is not always the case.
Cochineal extract is not the only natural dye that can pose a health risk. Serious allergic reactions have also been reported with annatto and saffron—yellow food colorings derived from natural products. So what will the food of the future look like?
Some advocacy groups, such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, seek to ban all food coloring, because of limited evidence showing that food coloring encourages children to eat junk food. Others envision a different future. One company has already manufactured an edible spray paint called Food Finish, which can be applied to any food.
It comes in red, blue, gold, and silver colors. Eating involves more than just taste. It is a full sensory experience. Both food scientists and chefs will tell you that the smell, sound, feel, and, yes, the sight of your food are just as important as taste to fully appreciate what you eat. That Slurpee would not taste the same if it did not dye your tongue an electric blue. Overview of Food Ingredients, Additives and Colors.
Fiegl, A. Borrell, B. Brian Rohrig is a science writer who lives in Columbus, Ohio. The caramel coloring of most commercially manufactured colas is derived naturally from caramelized sugar. Suppose for a moment that you are the chemist who works for a bottling plant. You are in charge of formulating the color for the latest batch of carbonated beverages. Unfortunately, the shipment of natural caramel coloring that you were expecting did not arrive, so you have to make the caramel coloring artificially.
Can it be done? Were you successful? What strategies did you use? Why do you think artificial coloring is typically not used in carbonated beverages? Careers Launch and grow your career with career services and resources. Communities Find a chemistry community of interest and connect on a local and global level. Discover Chemistry Explore the interesting world of science with articles, videos and more.
Awards Recognizing and celebrating excellence in chemistry and celebrate your achievements. Funding Funding to support the advancement of the chemical sciences through research projects. By Brian Rohrig October Download PDF. Natural Food Coloring To avoid so much processed food, some have advocated using natural food coloring, whenever possible.
Beta-carotene molecule. Click image to enlarge. Bugs, anyone? Carminic Acid.
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