Food additives - Food Coloring
In general, food color provides a visual input about a food’s quality and can influence how food tastes to us.
Nature has provided for natural colors that tell us something about the quality of that food, types of flavors, how sweet it is, how ripe it is, or whether it is in the process of decay (moldy with gray to black color). Much of this we learn through practice by observing the color of a fruit or vegetable and how it tastes and smells when it is that color. Food manufacturers have known this for a long time so for aesthetic reasons natural and artificial colors are added to food to increase our interest for that food. Many times coloring is used to make a less desirable food more desirable. The most popular synthetic dyes include red, blue, green, yellow and orange some of which have been banned depending on what country you live in. These artificial dyes are commonly used in kid drinks like cool aid, cookies and cake frostings, kids/adult cereals, kids candies, sodas, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese mixes and other processed foods. Below is a short list of a few natural and synthetic dyes that have been commonly used. The EU numbers run from E100-E199 if they have an EU number.
- Carotenes (E160a) -- This includes alpha, beta and gamma forms and are natural dyes that are yellow-orange to orange in color. These dyes are found in carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, spinach (and many other leafy green vegetables) and broccoli. These natural dyes are used to color margarine, butter and rice to mention a few.
- Lycopenes (Tomat-O-Red)(E160d) – These are natural dyes that are orange to red in color depending on their source. These natural dyes are found in tomatoes, water melon and papaya to mention a few. This natural dye is used to color beverages, dairy products, confections and baked goods. This dye has been demonstrated to prevent cancer, good for the prostate and helps maintain a healthy cardiovascular system.
- Annatto (E160b) – This natural red dye comes from the achiote seed found in the tropical Americas. This natural dye has been used to color margarine, butter, cheddar cheese, bread and rice.
- FD&C Red 40 (E129) – This as an artificial dye used in Jell-O, cereals, candy, cakes, fruit cups and sodas. This artificial dye has been banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Sweden however is permitted in the USA and other EU countries. Scientific studies have linked this dye with hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children. Interestingly and sadly, many of the artificial dyes are heavily used in children’s foods. Personally, I am not attracted to brightly colored food especially bright greens and blues (like cake icing): it just isn’t natural, however I suppose children are attracted to the bright primary colors and manufacturers have capitalized on this, unfortunately.
- FD&C Yellow 6 (E110) – This an artificial dye used in the same foods as FD&C Red 40. This artificial dye has been banned in Finland, Norway and United Kingdom but permitted in the USA and other EU countries. Other artificial dyes that are controversial include Yellow 5, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B and Red 3 have also been linked to behavioral disorders and cancer. Do you buy M&M’s? They contain all of these artificial colors.
Read about other food additives.
