Watch out for those bright colours in your food; they are banned

Indian sweet makers go overboard with artificial colouring. Rhodamine B, followed by Orange II and Metanil Yellow, were the two most common non-permitted or banned colours that were used, according to a study by Sumita Dixit

 

A study, conducted on milk-based sweets consumed in India showed that nearly 60% of food colours used in Indian sweets are well above legal limits and as much as 16.4% are non-permitted colours.

 

A study by Sumita Dixit—a researcher at the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Food, Drug and Chemical Toxicology Research Area (IITR)—published by the Journal of Food Science has come to the startling conclusion that Indian sweet makers go overboard with artificial colouring. While this is evident in the pink and green sweets, yellow and orange jelebis that we consumer with relish, there is not a scientific study that establishes the danger. Ms Dixit's study analyzed 2,409 samples of milk-based sweets, cereal-based sweets and savoury products. Of this sample, 83.6% contained permitted colours, but 58% of these were over the maximum allowable concentration limit of 100 mg/kg and the remaining 16.4% contained dangerous non-permitted colours. This has bought the total number of adulterated products in India to 64.8%.

 

The study showed that Rhodamine B, followed by Orange II and Metanil Yellow, were the two most common non-permitted or banned colours that were used. It is important to note that Rhodamine B is a cancer causing colouring agent that gives a pink colour but is actually meant for use in the plastics and textile industry. It gives a pink colour to sweets and is also used by shrimp paste makers to give it a fresh it a reddish brown hue. In many countries the use of Rhodamine B has been banned for 50 years and attracts a jail term, if used. Metanil yellow, which is widely used, is also banned and a study on rats showed that it affects the brain. 

 

Another research was conducted to assess how often Indian consumers ate colour-containing products at a national level. The study found that children and adolescents had higher average daily consumption of such foods than adults, potentially posing a health risk. The researchers said, “On the basis of average consumption of food commodities and average levels of detected colours, the intake of Sunset Yellow FCF saturates the acceptable daily intake limit to a maximum of 47.8% in children, which is a cause of concern”. Sunset Yellow has previously been linked to hyperactivity in children and Tartrazine, a lemon yellow colour, was the most common permitted colour. An earlier study found ADI limits were exceeded in 36% of food use in India.

 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India permits eight synthetic colours in specified foods at a uniform level of 100 mg/kg, while the acceptable daily intake ADI for food colours varies from 0.1 to 25 mg/kg body weight per day. The researchers said that these rules needed to be reviewed. The rule relating to the uniform maximum permissible limit of synthetic colours should be governed by technological necessity and the consumption profiles of the food commodities, in order to prevent people from unnecessarily getting exposed to excessive amounts of synthetic colours which can risk their health. Also the saturation of ADI limits in the commodities which is up to 48% is a cause of concern.