Is it harmful to put too much food coloring, and is food coloring harmful to the body?

It's definitely harmful, after all, it's all chemicals.

The rational use of food coloring in accordance with the standard will not cause harm to human health. Whether it is a natural food colorant or a food synthetic colorant, its safety must stand on the same starting line for risk assessment.

As long as it has passed the risk assessment, obtained the approval and is used in accordance with the standard provisions and the corresponding quality specifications, it is safe and will not cause harm to the health of consumers. The food additives allowed in GB2760 have been evaluated for safety, and consumers have no need to worry about colorants used in accordance with the standards.

Categories: Life.

Problem description: I want to know what are the dangers of food coloring to the human body?

Analysis: Have you ever noticed that there are a variety of drinks displayed in the shop windows, and it is dazzling to look at. The reason why drinks take on a variety of colors is because of the use of coloring in beverages.

Food coloring can be divided into food natural coloring and food synthetic coloring, natural coloring is generally safer, some synthetic coloring may be toxic, but due to the low cost of synthetic coloring, bright color, strong coloring strength, and diverse hues, it is still widely used.

Food synthetic coloring is also known as food tar coloring because food synthetic coloring is made from coal tar as a raw material. Because these pigments are harmful to humans, they should be strictly managed and used with caution.

According to research, the toxic effects of edible synthetic pigments on the human body may have three branches, namely general toxicity, laxative and carcinogenicity, especially carcinogenicity, which is more of concern. In addition, arsenic and lead may also be mixed into many edible synthetic pigments during the production process, and some toxic intermediates may also be mixed into the pigments. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out strict hygiene management of edible synthetic colors, such as:

It is necessary to strictly regulate the type, purity, specification, dosage, and permitted use of synthetic pigments.

The edible synthetic pigments allowed to be used in China are amaranth red, carmine, red bright red, new red, tartrazine, indigo, sunset yellow and bright blue, and the types of food that are allowed to be used are fruity water, fruit-shaped powder, sherbet, soft drink, prepared wine, candy, color packaging on pastries, canned food, etc. In order to prevent its harm, its use is strictly restricted.

There are two types of food coloring: natural food coloring and synthetic food coloring. Natural food coloring is not harmful to the body; Synthetic food coloring is harmful to the body, but within the acceptable range of the body.

Natural food coloring is derived from natural substances, mainly from plant tissues, but also includes some pigments from animals and microorganisms. Synthetic food coloring refers to the organic pigment prepared by artificial chemical synthesis method, which is mainly made from aniline dyes isolated from coal tar. Almost all synthetic colors do not provide nutrients to the human body, and some synthetic colors can even harm human health.

The hazards of synthetic food coloring include general toxicity, laxativeness, abruptness (gene mutation) and carcinogenicity. In particular, the carcinogenic effect of azo compound synthetic pigments is more obvious. Azo compounds are decomposed in the body to form gamma aromatic amine compounds, which may cause cancer after metabolic activities in the body and interact with target cells.

In addition, many food synthetic colors may be mixed with arsenic and lead during production, in addition to being toxic to themselves or their metabolites.

It is recommended to consume as little synthetic food coloring as possible.