Assessment of the Health implications of Synthetic and Natural Food Colourants – A Critical Review (original) (raw)
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The food colors are, in many countries, widely used to give food increased visual sensory quality, aiming, thus, the growth of the consumer market. Aware of this, the present work aimed to reevaluate the general properties of synthetic food dyes and natural pigments, the latter being generally used to replace the former. Then, the current analysis was based on the search for the strategy, selection of articles (with inclusion and exclusion criteria), eligibility, and data extraction. Thus, it was observed in studies that synthetic food dyes may cause several harmful effects to human health, among them, genetic damage and carcinogenicity. On the other hand, the use of natural pigments as an alternative to replace food dyes has been increasingly present in studies, presenting qualities that, previously, were not known, as is the case of anthocyanins, which have important physiological and ecological functions. It is also important to point out that the use of natural pigments goes bey...
Safety of Some Synthetic Food Colours: Review
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Food additives are used to protect food, increase quality and extend shelf life in many stages, from production to consumption of food. Colorants added by food producers to color food or to adjust the color to desired level are among the commonly used food additives. Considering today's developing production technologies, foods fade or discolor at various stages of processing, storage, and sale due to physical and chemical conditions such as heat, light, pH and oxygen. Colorants are used to regain these color losses, to enhance weak colors, to give color to the food that is actually colorless, and to win back the favour of customers by hiding low quality. Therefore, the most used food colorants in Canada, China, European Union, Mexico and United States of America were presented. The chemical name, chemical structure, common uses, acceptable daily intake (ADI), and toxicity literature of six most used artificial food colors were reviewed.
2011
doi:10.1111/j.1757-837X.2010.00087.x Abstract Introduction Natural colour additives are increasingly used as alternatives to synthetic colours in food and drink. This is partly a reaction to concerns on the safety of certain synthetic food colours by consumers and as a result of safety evaluations and industry requirements. Objectives This article provides an overview of the key scientific, technical, regulatory and socio-economic aspects of replacing synthetic food colorants with natural alternatives. Methods The different types of food colour additives are discussed with respect to their derivation, source materials and stability as well as the range of formulations designed to meet the technical demands of food manufacturer’s applications, regulatory compliance and safety evaluation. The socioeconomic impact of replacing synthetic colours with natural alternatives is discussed with reference to four case studies. An overview on available methods of analysis is also given. Conclus...
Plant Natural Pigment Colorants-Health Benefits: Toxicity Of Synthetic OR Artificial Food Colarants
International Journal of Innovation Scientific Research and Review, 2022
This literature review paper highlights about health benefits of plant natural pigment colorants and toxicity of synthetic or artificial food colorants. Fruits and vegetables are colourful pigment-containing food sources. Natural food colours or biological pigments originate from a wide range of sources like vegetables, fruits, plants, minerals and other edible natural sources. These natural pigments are essential secondary metabolites, which play multiple roles in the whole life cycle of plants and are characterized by powerful medicinal properties. Owing to their nutritional benefits and phytochemicals, they are considered as functional food ingredients, capable of providing additional health benefits, like prevention or delaying onset of chronic diseases, as well as meeting basic nutritional requirements. Colour additives are widely used by the food industry to enhance the appearance, as well as the nutritional properties of a food product. Synthetic colours are added to foods to replace natural colour lost during processing to reduce batch-to-batch variation and to produce products with consumer appeal where no natural colour exists. However, some of these substances may pose a potential risk to human health, especially if they are consumed excessively and are regulated. Synthetic colorants become toxic after prolonged use, causing health problems such as indigestion, anemia and allergic reactions as asthma and urticaria, pathological lesions in the brain, kidney, spleen and liver, tumours and cancer paralysis, mental retardation, abnormalities in offsprings, growth retardation, carcinogenic effect and eye defects resulting in blindness.
Plant Natural Pigment Colorants-Health Benefits: Toxicity of Synthetic or Artificial Food Colorants
International Journal of Innovation Scientific Research and Review, 2022
This literature review paper highlights about health benefits of plant natural pigment colorants and toxicity of synthetic or artificial food colorants. Fruits and vegetables are colourful pigment-containing food sources. Natural food colours or biological pigments originate from a wide range of sources like vegetables, fruits, plants, minerals and other edible natural sources. These natural pigments are essential secondary metabolites, which play multiple roles in the whole life cycle of plants and are characterized by powerful medicinal properties. Owing to their nutritional benefits and phytochemicals, they are considered as functional food ingredients, capable of providing additional health benefits, like prevention or delaying onset of chronic diseases, as well as meeting basic nutritional requirements. Colour additives are widely used by the food industry to enhance the appearance, as well as the nutritional properties of a food product. Synthetic colours are added to foods to replace natural colour lost during processing to reduce batch-to-batch variation and to produce products with consumer appeal where no natural colour exists. However, some of these substances may pose a potential risk to human health, especially if they are consumed excessively and are regulated. Synthetic colorants become toxic after prolonged use, causing health problems such as indigestion, anemia and allergic reactions as asthma and urticaria, pathological lesions in the brain, kidney, spleen and liver, tumours and cancer paralysis, mental retardation, abnormalities in offsprings, growth retardation, carcinogenic effect and eye defects resulting in blindness.
Food colorants: their past, present and future
Coloration Technology
Whether we are purchasing fresh vegetables from a market stall, ready meals from the supermarket, eating at home or in five-star restaurant, we use colour to tell us what to expect, in terms of taste, nutrition and safety. This review considers the techniques that have, over the years, been employed to modify the colour of our food, and the interactions of these techniques with questions of safety and nutrition. The demand for brightly coloured food resulted in the incorporation of some questionable inorganic and organic chemistry being used in our food. A limited number of synthetic dyes are still used in our food today, but health concerns and the general consumer-driven demand to move to "natural" colorants has brought about a shift-change in the way we colour food. On supermarket shelves the proliferation of products with labels that make a virtue of "No artificial colours" suggests that the future of the azo dyes and their various chemical cousins is strictly limited. Nature makes an abundance of colours and many of these are extracted and used as natural food colorants, however, they are subject to application limitations and stability problems. Significant research is ongoing by academia and industry into methods to stabilise and expand the application possibilities for the various approved natural food colorants, but most developments that the food colour manufacturers boast about nowadays are enhanced vehicles for delivering established natural pigments into food products.
Toxicity of food colours and additives: A review
African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 2015
Majority of consumer goods are required to be presented with good aesthetics in order to improve acceptability in terms of colours and in some instances taste. When related to food, beverages and drug products, additives are usually added to mask un-inviting colours, obscure offensive odours and increase taste. Food additives therefore include colourants, sweeteners, preservatives and anti-caking agents. Admissible daily intake limits are often recommended for these additives. Being food products, the amount consumed over time may be subject to individual preferences and thus negating the desire to regulate and control the amount consumed cumulatively. There have been several concerns about the safety of food additives and several batteries of tests, and reports are available in literature. This review attempted to give an update on reports that have surfaced in literature over recent past on the use and safety of food colours and other additives. Some safety concerns have been rela...
Colorants in foods - from past to present
2016
Consumer expectations toward food products are changing due to the development of the food industry and new technologies. The growing knowledge in the field of health impact of natural and artificial colorants added to food results in an awaking interest of natural dyes among researchers, producers and consumers. Food colour plays a fundamental role in identifying the quality of food, so it is associated with the sensory quality of food products. In this paper the different types of colorants, their production methods and the evolution of these methods were characterized.
Trends in Food Science & Technology, 2016
Background: Worldwide consumers seek most delightful and appealing foodstuffs, at the same time they require safer, more nutritious and healthier products. Color is one of the most important organoleptic attributes that directly affects consumers' acceptance and food selection. Scope and approach: The present report aims to provide an extensive approach to the field of food (natural/synthetic) colorants, namely those who are currently allowed with established acceptable daily intake (ADI). It also describes the biotechnological and industrial techniques that have been used to optimize food attractiveness, shelf life and color stability, as well as the general trends and future perspectives of food science and technology in the topic of food colorants. Key findings and conclusions: Synthetic food colorants were largely used, but have been progressively substituted by those obtained from natural origins. Numerous side effects and toxicity, at both medium and long-terms, allergic reactions, behavioral and neurocognitive effects have been related with their use. Otherwise, naturally-derived food colorants seem to provide high quality, efficiency and organoleptic properties, and also play a contributive role as health promoters. Anthocyanins, carotenoids, phenolic compounds, beet derivatives, annatto and some curcuminoids are among the most commonly used, while strict regulatory practices have been applied looking for food quality assurance.
Veterinary World, 2024
Background and Aim: The use of food dyes can cause certain diseases, such as anemia and indigestion, along with other disorders, tumors, and even cancer. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the chemical nature and toxicity of some commercial dyes locally used in processed foods compared with standard food dyes. Materials and Methods: Three types of standard and commercial food color additives (Sunset Yellow, Tartrazine, and Carmoisine) were extensively examined. The chemical structures and functional groups of the dyes were evaluated by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The melting temperatures of the dyes were also determined by chemical thermal analysis. The acute toxicity test to evaluate the standard and commercial food color safety was estimated by a range-finding study using 150 Wistar albino rats. Sub-groups were administered one of the three colors under study at doses of 2, 3, 4, and 5 g/kg body weight (BW) orally for 7 days. When no mortality was observed, an additional 15 g/kg BW was administered. Concerning the median lethal dose 50 (LD50), 38 rats were exploited using the up-and-down method. Results: Commercial dyes had lower melting points than standard colors. Regarding the range-finding study, rats receiving different doses of the dyes exhibited no signs of toxicity, no deaths, and no clinical or gross pathological signs throughout the 7 days of the experiment. However, the animals that were dosed with 15 g/kg BW of each dye showed signs of loss of appetite, tachycardia, drowsiness, and eventual death. The LD50 values of the commercial food dyes, particularly Sunset Yellow and Carmoisine, were lower than those of the standard dyes. Conclusion: Commercial food colors were more toxic to rats than standard food colors. Differences were observed between the purity of the standard and commercial dyes, and the latter ones contained different percentages of salt, indicating the occurrence of fraud in commercial markets. Keywords: acute toxicity, food colors, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, lethal dose 50, range-finding study.