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All children like bright, unusual colors of candy. True, after some of them, the child’s tongue is painted in all the colors of the rainbow. What is it: a norm or a sign of a “chemical” candy? If you do not know the answer to this question, it’s time to find out how safe the dyes used in the modern food industry are, and what “E” in the composition of the product should alert.
Food coloring: what are
Agree, rarely anyone wants to buy a product of an unpleasant, repulsive color. Food manufacturers are also well aware of this, therefore, they try to make their products as bright and beautiful as possible. But not every color can be created using natural dyes. And that’s when synthetic assistants come to the rescue. In the system of food additives, dyes are assigned indices from 100 to 199. Moreover, within this group there is its own exact hierarchy, in which each shade has its own codes.
For example, all yellows are “yes” from 100 to 109, the next ten are assigned to orange colors, reds are 120-129, followed by a dozen blues, then green, brown and black shades are assigned indices from 150 to 159, and all the remaining positions are used to designate other colors.
By origin, food colors are natural and artificial. The first are dyes of natural origin. Their sources can be plant, animal or mineral extracts.
Artificial ones are created by synthesizing in laboratories. They also come in two varieties. The first are actually synthetic dyes, which have no analogues in nature. That is, these are just the colors that are often called “chemical” or “acid”. The second group of artificial dyes is identical to natural ones. They are also a product of the chemical industry, but their color is fully consistent with natural shades. Substances from this group are usually used to replace more expensive natural dyes.
What you need to know about natural dyes
Natural food coloring has been used by humans since the dawn of cooking. Leaves, root crops, berries, flowers, fruit peel, fruit juice – all this turns into dyes in the skillful hands of a cook.
By mixing different components, you can create different shades or even new colors. However, compared to synthetic dyes, natural dyes contain fewer pigments and they lose their original color faster.
Most often, natural coloring pigment is obtained from plants rich in flavonoids. As a rule, these are fruits with a deep, rich color and a wide palette. Grapes, currants, cherries are sources of natural food coloring purple, red, blue and pink.
The pigment of these berries is often used to color drinks, desserts, creams. It is also interesting that, in addition to the coloring matter, the juice with flavonoids has many useful properties.
Using exclusively natural raw materials, you can get a variety of pigments. For example, dark berries and beets will give a blue-violet color, some algae provide pink hues, and the chlorophyll contained in the leaves will give green. Natural gray-black pigment can be obtained from burnt wood, orange-red from chili peppers, orange-yellow from crocus flowers, and bright yellow from turmeric. The juice of cranberries, tomatoes or pomegranates will give different shades of red, and a rich orange is easy to get from fresh carrots. Even a beautiful blue hue can be created from natural ingredients. To do this, mix egg white, boiled rice and red cabbage juice.
What are the dangers of coloring additives
Coloring substances of natural origin usually do not pose a danger, and many of them even have a beneficial effect on our bodies. But there are exceptions in this list, for which strict dosages are established. Take at least E103. This pigment is obtained from the rhizome of the dye-alkane. This plant, originally from the Mediterranean, can provoke the growth of malignant tumors.
Annatto plant extract (E160b), used to color cheeses, can cause allergies. The same can be said about E120 (a red dye obtained from female cochineal insects).
But if dangerous dyes in the group of natural ones are an exception, then there are many of them among synthetic substances. Some of them have carcinogenic and mutagenic properties, cause damage to nerve cells, indigestion, malfunctions of the respiratory system, and allergic reactions.
Some types of red and green synthetic dyes can cause liver cancer, yellow ones can affect the intestines and heart, blue ones are harmful to the gastrointestinal tract, orange ones are dangerous to the spleen, kidneys and lymphatic system.
But it should also be said that many scientific studies indicate that food colorings themselves are not strong carcinogens (if they are used in the allowed dosage). Nevertheless, these substances have pronounced synergistic properties. In other words, they enhance the harmful effect of other substances dangerous to humans. And now it should be recalled that most food colorings are used in tandem with no less dangerous preservatives.
It cannot be categorically stated that all synthetic dyes are toxic. One candy of an unnaturally bright color or one cake with cream colored with artificial “E”, of course, will not cause serious disorders in the body (the exception is an allergy to components). But these days, there are so many “chemistry” in foods that one more look at the list of ingredients won’t hurt anyone. And if given the opportunity to choose, it is better to abandon synthetics in favor of natural food supplements. Especially if the product is intended for a child.