Food coloring (color additive)
Food coloring, also known as color additives, are substances used to alter the color of food and can be derived from natural or artificial sources. These additives enhance the visual appeal of food, making it more appetizing and helping consumers identify flavors—such as the purple hue of candies that typically indicates a grape flavor. There are two primary types of food colorings: dyes, which are water-soluble, and lakes, which can be used in foods with low moisture content. While food colorings are generally considered safe for consumption, some individuals may experience adverse reactions, and certain additives have been linked to increased cancer risks.
The history of food coloring dates back to ancient civilizations, where natural ingredients like spices and plant juices were used to enhance food color. Over centuries, particularly during the Industrial Revolution, the development of artificial dyes led to widespread use, sometimes with hazardous ingredients. Regulatory measures began to emerge in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) playing a key role in overseeing the safety and labeling of food colorings. Today, while natural pigments do not require FDA certification, artificial color additives must be tested and approved for safety before being used in food products.
Food coloring (color additive)
Food coloring is a dye, pigment, or substance used to change the color of food. It can be natural or artificial. The additive is used to maintain or improve appearance. Colors also serve as a code to help people easily identify certain foods and flavors; for example, purple-colored candies typically taste like grape. Cola would be clear, not brown, and margarine would be white, not yellow, without the use of food coloring. Two types of food colorings exist: dyes and lakes. Dyes are water soluble, while lakes can be used in low-moisture foods or those containing oil and/or water. Food additives also can be found in medications, hair dyes, cosmetics, and other products. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates color additives and requires them to be labeled. While some have been linked to an increased cancer risk, they are considered mostly safe for consumption; however, some people do experience adverse health reactions to certain food colorings.
Early History
The practice of adding coloring to foods and other products has been around since ancient times. Individuals used spices such as paprika, turmeric, and saffron as well as the juices from berries, beets, and carrots to impart color to foods. They also used crushed bugs, flower petals, minerals, and more to make different shades. They felt the dyes enhanced the natural colors of the foods and made them appear more appetizing.
Food coloring emerged most likely around 1500 B.C.E. with ancient Egyptian civilization. In the Middle Ages, dyes for food were difficult to procure and saved for the upper class. Some people believed that color indicated foods possessed certain nutritional values and medicinal properties. Refined white flour was reserved for the elite, and members of the lower class who did obtain pure white bread might have found it contained fillers such as chalk to give it a bright white hue. To avoid this, many laws were enacted to prohibit the coloring of foods to ensure foods contained real ingredients and not fake fillers. For example, a French law in the 1500s did not allow dye in pastries, so chefs could not use yellow coloring instead of eggs to deceive customers, a common practice at the time.
Despite the laws, the practice of deception in food appearance continued for the next few centuries. Many chefs and food manufacturers ignored laws because they knew they could get away with using coloring and inferior products to fool customers and still make money. The problem worsened in the late eighteenth century when new artificial food dyes were created and were easier to obtain. These dyes were not regulated and contained poisonous ingredients. No laws at the time existed to prevent people from using such ingredients or to protect unknowing people from consuming them. The Industrial Revolution, which further expanded manufacturing processes, also helped to make food coloring easier to procure and use.
English chemist Friedrich Accum in his 1820 book A Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons addressed the issues surrounding food coloring and deception. In it, he lists foods that contained poisonous dyes as well as foods that used coloring to falsify true ingredients. Some tea manufacturers dyed plants and other food items to make them look like real tea leaves. Pickled items had copper coloring added to give pickles the perfect greenish-yellow hue. Bakers were still using chalk and other nonfoods as ingredients in their baked goods. Manufacturers of candies and jellies were the biggest offenders. They added a variety of poisonous chemicals to achieve the perfect bright colors in their confections. Some of these included red and white lead, blue vitriol (copper), and vermilion (mercury).
Accum even went a step further and exposed the names and addresses of the offenders; although, this had little impact on the practice. Eventually, some countries began to enact bans and laws on using certain colorings in food. Many of these did little to deter manufacturers from abiding by them, and many foods continued to be contaminated with hazardous chemicals. However, by this time, consumers became more savvy and refused to buy items they believed contained poisonous colorings. One example was milk, which people rejected because they believed its white color was fabricated with the use of additives.
Continued History
In the United States, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bureau of Chemistry, which later became the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), began to research use of colorings in foods in 1881. It gave manufacturers the authority to use or not use certain artificial colorings. People continued to speak out against food colorings and demanded that they be removed from products to protect public health. Some states had policies in place, but the legislation was ineffective and not regularly followed. The National Confectioners Association advised candy makers and manufacturers to stop using certain artificial colors in 1899, yet concerns continued into the twentieth century.
In 1906, the US government enacted the Pure Food and Drug Act, which prohibited the use of poisonous pigments to hide defects in foods. The following year, it passed the Food Inspection Decision, which listed safe colorants for use in foods. The list was periodically updated to approve new colors and delete ones deemed toxic. Several laws to protect people from dyes in cosmetics were passed as well.
By this time, safer colorants had been introduced. Called coal tars because they were derived from petroleum and coal, these colorings were more potent, meaning much less was required to achieve a desired color. They also had less of an effect on the flavor of foods. In 1938, the FDA required foods with coal tars to be labeled as such. In the years that followed, the FDA continued to amend its list of safe color additives to include new ones and remove any that could cause potential illnesses. It required color additives be tested, certified, and registered with the organization before they could be used in foods. It also ordered companies to list all colorants in the ingredients of foods and other products. Natural pigments do not have to be certified by the FDA.
Bibliography
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