Are Colorants Safe?

In the early days of colorant development, many food colorants had never been tested for toxicity and other adverse effects, but were widely used in various popular foods on the market. Since early aniline and coal-tar dyes were highly toxic, this prompted regulators in various countries to conduct toxicity testing of food colorants. my country is no exception. Food colorants have been used in the food industry in my country for more than 20 years. At present, the production, use and research of food colorants have reached a certain level and scale . In order to prevent colorants from endangering human health, my country has formulated strict safety management requirements for the use of colorants.

The toxicity of colorants depends on their chemical structure. Therefore, the safety review of natural colorants stipulates that if the chemical structure of the natural colorants extracted from production has not changed and the amount used does not exceed the content of natural food, no toxicological evaluation is required. For other natural colorants used in large quantities, regardless of whether their structure has changed, they are required to undergo corresponding toxicological tests before they are allowed to be used in food. For artificial synthetic colorants, the safety requirements are more stringent. Every artificial color approved for use in my country must undergo a series of rigorous toxicology tests and safety evaluations before it is allowed to be used. Only after it is proven to be safe to use within a certain range can it be reported to the government, and it must also go through a certain procedure for strict review, and finally determine its toxicity, as well as the maximum amount and scope of use in various foods, and finally write it into the national standard.

Our country's current "National Food Safety Standard Food Additive Use Standard" (GB 2760-2014) is based on our country's safety management requirements for pigments, verified by experts' toxicology experiments, and referenced to international and developed countries' standards and regulations. It is a guideline for the use of additives. It clearly stipulates the principles for the use of food pigments, the types of pigments allowed to be used, the scope of use of various types, the maximum amount or residual amount, and other matters. In addition, GB 2760-2014 is a mandatory national standard, protected by law. The use of pigments in qualified foods must comply with the relevant requirements of the national standard to flow into the market. The colorants added to food are strictly monitored, which can well ensure the safety of food. In addition, our understanding of pigments is not stagnant. It is a process of gradual improvement. The use guidelines of pigments are also constantly updated as our understanding changes. For example, the current GB 2760-2014 has cancelled the use of 17 colorants compared to the previous GB 2760-2011. It aims to standardize the use of pigments and ensure that colorants are safe enough to be used in food, thereby safeguarding the rights and interests of consumers.

As for the occurrence of pigment incidents such as "dyed steamed buns", it is mainly because bad producers do not use them legally according to relevant regulations, not because the colorants themselves are unsafe. To prevent these problems from happening again, manufacturers need to enhance their awareness of food safety and produce rationally, while market regulators must strictly enforce the law or relevant regulations to maintain the order of the food market, and multiple personnel in the food industry must cooperate.

Are Natural Colorants Bad? Why Use Artificial Synthetic Colorants?

Among those who have misunderstandings about colorants, in addition to believing that colorants are unsafe, they are more distrustful of artificial synthetic pigments. "Why do we need to synthesize so many chemical pigments when there are natural pigments?" a netizen once asked me. It is actually very simple to answer this question. First, natural pigments are not easy to use, and second, natural pigments are too expensive. Merchants naturally don't want to use things that are not easy to use and very expensive.

Why are natural pigments not easy to use? High-quality pigments are generally required to have good water solubility, because the main method of using pigments is to add water to make a solution, which will facilitate coloring food, but natural pigments have a large molecular weight and poor water solubility, making it difficult to color food. In addition, the properties of natural pigments are not stable enough, which can easily cause the color of the product to become like deterioration during the shelf life, seriously affecting our appetite. Why are natural pigments expensive? The expensiveness lies in its complex extraction process, and large-scale use will cause the manufacturer's cost to rise sharply.

Artificial synthetic pigments are developed to address the shortcomings of natural pigments. They have bright colors, strong coloring ability, good stability, good water solubility, easy coloring, uniform quality, and long-lasting and durable effects. In addition, because the synthesis technology of artificial pigments is mature and the preparation is simple, its cost is relatively low.