Blog #9 Artificial Food Dyes

Some products in grocery stores like pastries, cosmetics, candies, soft drinks, and so much more contain artificial dyes that aren't good for people's health. These artificial food dyes are a problem that has plagued our country for decades. Countless articles and papers have been published about the various health problems associated with consuming these dyes. One of the biggest works on artificial food dyes is a paper written by Sarah Kobylewski and Michael F. Jacobson titled Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks. This paper discusses different food dyes and the dangers they present on the human body. They specifically discuss the dyes Blue 1, Blue 2, Citrus Red 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6.

In their research, they found that three of these dyes (Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6) contained at least one carcinogenic contaminant. Red 40 contains a carcinogen called p-cresidine which is used as a synthetic chemical intermediate in the dye-making process. Their research into Red 40 concludes with “Considering the lack of published metabolism data, the positive results in comet assays, the disputed mouse studies, causation of hypersensitivity reactions, possible causation of hyperactivity in children, and the non-essentiality of the dye, Red 40 should not be used in foods.“. Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 on the other hand both contain the same carcinogenic compounds Benzidine and 4-aminobiphenyl. The Yellow 5 research concludes much the same as Red 40 but Yellow 6 concludes with them saying that it has minor issues but should be removed from the food supply since it doesn't help one's health.


Kobylewski, Sarah, and Michael F. Jacobson. Food dyes: A rainbow of risks. Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2010, https://www.cspinet.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/resource/food-dyes-rainbow-of-risks.pdf.

Comments

  1. Denise TrujilloDecember 13, 2023 at 9:10 AM

    Hey there! I have always wondered why people stayed away from these artificial dyes and never got around to actually looking into it. After reading this I can see exactly why. Many people don't read into these types of things and to be able to educate others can make difference. I can't even tell the difference between the artificial dye vs the natural dye. Thank you for this!

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