Food dyes: why shouldn't be abused
Food colorings are increasingly present in our everyday consumer products. Let's discover together what exactly they are used for, what their different characteristics are and which ones to avoid which can sometimes represent a health hazard.
Food colorings are substances added to basic foodstuffs in order to give food a colorful and original appearance without altering its taste. They are increasingly used by the food industry because they meet consumer demand, which has become very demanding with regard to the visual appearance of edible products.
Fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, cheeses, cakes, creams, yoghurts, ready meals are all affected by food coloring today.
Different types of food coloring
There are several families of food colorings:
Natural dyes, such as beetroot juice;
Synthetic dyes. They are produced industrially, but exist in nature. This is for example the case of paprika extract, which is nevertheless of natural origin;
Artificial colors that do not exist in nature at all.
It is therefore important, when buying a food product, to check on the packaging what type of additive is present. This information is sometimes difficult to find, the identification of the dye not being nominative but coded.
For example, the yellow color may be due to the presence of a natural dye, such as curcumin from turmeric. This dye carries the code E100.
Each additive has an encrypted identification code. In the European Union, it is a code composed of the letter E followed by 3 digits. That of the hundreds (the 1) indicates that it is a food coloring when that of the tens and that of the units indicate the color or the shade. Food colorings are therefore all additives between E100 and E199.
Are they dangerous?
Whatever type of dye is used, it is important to only use very small doses. It is the excess of these dyes that can lead to adverse effects, such as allergic manifestations, even if it is a natural dye.
It is therefore appropriate to refer to the acceptable daily intake indicated by the European Commission, in mg/kg of body weight. This admits that 60 mg/kg is a maximum dose up to which there is no particular health risk.
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