by Anne Sanders

Created on: March 26, 2010

The use of food coloring is a sticky topic in the United States and abroad. Many processed foods contain food colorings, such as candy, snack foods, margarine, cheese, soft drinks, jams and jellies, gelatins, pudding and pie fillings.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has terminated or restricted the use of many different food dyes because of findings that show possible links to behavioral and physical reactions or symptoms. In 2009 a Maryland legislator introduced two bills to phase out dyes from foods in schools or in all foods in the state. In 2008 the United Kingdom’s food regulatory agency asked manufacturers to voluntarily remove six artificial dyes from foods in stores and restaurants. The requests followed the release of a study in Lancet magazine in 2007 showing increased hyperactivity in three and eight to nine year old children given a drink with food colorings and additives. The UK’s

Food Standards Agency has seen results from supermarket chains and manufacturers and wants the European Union Food Safety Authority to enact bans as well.

The Path of Food Colors Into Food

According to the FDA, food coloring is used to improve natural variations in color and other color changes due to light, air, temperature extremes, moisture and storage conditions. It is also used to put color in colorless foods or foods like candy for attractive purposes.

To use a new color additive in America, a manufacturer must petition the FDA, providing evidence that the substance is safe for the ways in which it will be used. The FDA considers the composition and properties of the substance, the amount typically consumed, immediate and long-term health effects, and other safety factors. The FDA says it determines “an appropriate level of use that includes a built-in safety margin - a factor that allows for uncertainty about the levels of consumption that are expected to be harmless.” That being said, the FDA admits it “can never be absolutely certain of the absence of any risk from the use of any substance.”

The FDA certifies synthetically produced colors and exempts pigments from natural sources like vegetable, minerals and animals. Nine color additives are approved for use in the U.S., namely FD&C Blue Nos. 1 and 2, FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red Nos. 3 and 40, FD&C Yellow Nos. 5 and 6, Orange B and Citrus Red No. 2. Examples of exempt natural colors include annatto extract, caramel and beta-carotene for yellow to

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