Are Food Color Additives Safe?

Have you ever wondered how food manufacturers add colors to food such as the yellow color of margarine, the green color of mint-flavored ice cream, or blue color of blueberry yogurt? We love brightly-colored foods, but what is the difference between the color in a bright red apple or the deep red frosting on a cupcake? Are food color additives safe to eat?

What are Color Additives?

A color additive is any dye, pigment, or substance that adds color to foods. Color additives have no health or nutritional benefits. Some color additives are made from plant extracts, while others are made synthetically in the factory. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for regulating all food color additives for health, safety, and accurate labeling. Refer to the list of approved color additives at the end of this article.

When are Color Additives Used?

Color additives are used to offset discoloring when food is exposed to light, air, or temperature extremes; correct natural color variations, enhance naturally-occurring colors, and add color to foods that are naturally white or colorless.

Color Additives and Hyperactivity

More than 40 years ago, Benjamin Feingold, Chief of Allergy at Kaiser-Permanente Hospital in California, was one of the first to state that synthetic color additives, artificial flavors, preservatives, and salicylates found in foods could cause hyperactivity. His opinion was based on years of observing patients, rather than controlled studies, and generated controversy that continues today.

Growing Use of Food Color Additives

In 1955, 1.6 million pounds of colorings, or 12 mg per person per day, were certified for use in foods. By 2015 that figure jumped to over 17 million pounds, or 67 mg per person per day. The more than five-fold increase reflects the growing number of soft drinks, breakfast cereals, candies, baked goods, snacks, desserts, and other foods and drinks made with color additives.

The FDA has the primary legal responsibility for determining the safety of color additives and considers both the amount that’s typically consumed as well as immediate and long-term health effects. When determining an appropriate amount of color additives to use, the FDA includes a built-in safety margin so that the levels of use that are approved are much lower than what would be expected to have any adverse effect.

A Reaction to Color Additives

When my oldest son was in kindergarten, he started to develop an eczema-like rash on his hands, face, and body that neither our family physician or the local dermatologist could figure out how to treat. At Easter that year, after he and the other neighborhood children ate the brightly-colored candy they collected at the Easter egg hunt, I was amazed as, within minutes, a bright-red rash started covering his entire body. We had found our culprit for the itchy, irritated skin – color additives.

Statistics on Color Additives in Our Food

There’s a growing concern among parents about the possible negative effects of synthetic color additives on our children. Research conducted in one grocery store in North Carolina in 2014 collected information on 810 food products. Overall, 350 food products (43.2%) contained color additives. The most common color additives were:

Red 40 (29.8% of products)
Blue 1 (24.2%)
Yellow 5 (20.5%),
Yellow 6 (19.5%).

Fruits and vegetables were the only foods that did not contain color additives. The highest percentage of products with color additives were:

candies (96.3%)
fruit-flavored snacks (94%)
drink mixes/powders (89.7%).

Are Color Additives Safe?

There is research on both sides of the color additive safety debate, with some research showing that even people who consume a high number of foods with color additives are not at risk of any adverse health effects.

Other research points to the possibility that color additives may be carcinogenic or could cause hypersensitivity reactions (like my son’s itchy red rash) or behavior problems. A 2012 meta-analysis of 36 studies found that 8% of children with ADHD had improved behavior when they ate a diet that contained no color additives.

Law Regarding Yellow No. 5

FD&C Yellow No. 5 is used to color beverages, dessert powders, candy, ice cream, custards, and other foods. The FDA's Committee on Hypersensitivity to Food Constituents concluded in 1986 that FD&C Yellow No. 5 might cause hives in fewer than one out of 10,000 people, and that there was no evidence the color additives in food provoke asthma attacks. The law now requires Yellow No. 5 to be identified on the ingredient line so that people who may be sensitive to the color can avoid it.

Opt for Naturally Colored Foods

It’s mainly processed foods that contain color additives, so you can remove these foods from your daily food choices and replace them with less processed, naturally-colored foods.

Color additives add no nutrition or health value to foods, and primarily are found in foods that are high in sugar, sodium, and calories, which can be detrimental to health.

Instead of consuming brightly-colored processed foods, opt for plain yogurt and flavor it with fresh or frozen fruit. You can also serve fresh fruit instead of fruit-flavored snacks or candy, and enjoy water instead of flavored beverages.

This information is for educational purposes only. The statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your physician if you have any question regarding a medical condition.

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