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About Food Coloring Safety

Food additives, including colorings, are in much of what you eat every day. With some things, it's no surprise. If you buy Twinkies, you're generally not expecting health food. What may be surprising is the use of colorings in foods most people might consider "natural." A good example is the orange dye that is sometimes used to enhance the color of Florida oranges (see Reference 3). With such prevalence, you might start wondering how safe food color is.

  1. The Facts

    • The Food and Drug Administration, has posted a list of food colorings and other additives that it has approved as being generally safe for human consumption on the agency's website.

    Types

    • There are two main types of food colorings: artificial and natural. While the artificial ones must undergo rigorous testing before being approved by the FDA, natural ones are in a class that has received exemption from such certification.

    Considerations

    • FDA testing has indicated that several commonly used food dyes contain small amounts of carcinogens. Among these is Red 40, which is the most commonly used food coloring in the U.S. today. The FDA has considered test results showing harmful effects in laboratory animals as being inconsistent.

      The artificial food coloring known as Yellow 5 has been proven to cause allergic reactions in people with aspirin allergies, according to the FDA.

      Yellow 6, another artificial food dye, has been responsible for kidney and adrenal gland tumors in lab mice during FDA tests. The FDA has since concluded that no significant risk is posed to humans--which is significant, as this is the third most widely used food dye in the U.S. today.

    Theories/Speculation

    • A study done in 1995 concluded that natural food dyes pose no threat to human health. However, it should be noted that this study was published by the International Association of Color Manufacturers. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to question the objectivity of the test.

    Warning

    • The Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a petition with the FDA seeking to ban several food coloring agents in this country due to studies concluding that they caused significant behavior problems in children. The dyes in question were, at the time of the organization's petition, falling into disuse in the UK due to similar concerns. (See Resources section)

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