Thursday June 18, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- Some processed foods and beverages have bright colors and chances are good that those bright colors are rendered by artificial food colorants or food dyes, which some reports suggest have some safety issues.

A review led by scientists at University of California in Los Angeles, California, USA finds all of the nine currently US-approved food dyes may not as safe as thought. 

Several dyes are carcinogenic. for instance, Red 3 is known to cause cancer in animals;

Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 have been found contaminated with benzidine or other carcinogens;

Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 are known to cause hypersensitivity reactions;

Yellow 5 is genotoxic as shown in many microbiological and rodent studies;

Citrus Red 2 and Orange B may also raise safety concerns, even though "Citrus Red 2 is used at low levels and only on some Florida oranges and Orange B has not been used for several years," according to the review.

The reviewers suggest that all food dyes should be removed from the food supply and replaced with safer colorings because they have been found able to induce carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, and hypersensitivity and the safety testing of these chemicals has been found inadequate.

The review recommends "regulatory authorities require better and independent toxicity testing, exercise greater caution regarding continued approval of these dyes, and in the future approve only well-tested, safe dyes."

Natural colors from plants are abailable even thought they cannot completely replace all artificial colorants.  The problem is, the natural colors are much more expensive and many food manufacturers are reluctant to use the natural colorings.  (David Liu)

Kobylewski S, Jacobson MF.  Toxicology of food dyes.  Int J Occup Environ Health. 2012 Jul-Sep

In the United States

Seven dyes were initially approved under the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, but several have been delisted and replacements have been found. Some of the food colorings have the abbreviation "FCF" in their names. This stands for "For Coloring Food" (US) or "For Colouring of Food" (UK).

Current seven

In the US, the following seven artificial colorings are permitted in food (the most common in bold) as of 2007:

• FD&C Blue No. 1 – Brilliant Blue FCF, E133 (blue shade)
• FD&C Blue No. 2 – Indigotine, E132 (indigo shade)
• FD&C Green No. 3 – Fast Green FCF, E143 (turquoise shade)
• FD&C Red No. 3 – Erythrosine, E127 (pink shade, commonly used in glacé cherries)
• FD&C Red No. 40 – Allura Red AC, E129 (red shade)
• FD&C Yellow No. 5 – Tartrazine, E102 (yellow shade)
• FD&C Yellow No. 6 – Sunset Yellow FCF, E110 (orange shade)

Limited use

The following dyes are only allowed by the FDA for specific limited applications:

• Citrus Red 2 (orange shade) - allowed only for use to color orange peels.
• Orange B (red shade) - allowed only for use in hot dog and sausage casings.

Delisted and banned

• FD&C Red No. 2 – Amaranth
• FD&C Red No. 4
• FD&C Red No. 32 was used to color Florida oranges.
• FD&C Orange Number 1 was one of the first water soluble dyes to be commercialized, and one of seven original food dyes allowed under the Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30, 1906.
• FD&C Orange No. 2 was used to color Florida oranges.
• FD&C Yellow No. 1, 2, 3, and 4
• FD&C Violet No. 1

Other locations

As stated above, most other countries have their own regulations and list of food colors which can be used in various applications, including maximum daily intake limits. In the EU, E numbers 102-143 cover the range of artificial colors. For an overview of currently allowed additives see here . Some artificial dyes approved for food use in the EU include:

• E104: Quinoline Yellow
• E122: Carmoisine
• E124: Ponceau 4R
• E131: Patent Blue V
• E142: Green S

Natural food dyes

A growing number of natural food dyes are being commercially produced, partly due to consumer concerns surrounding synthetic dyes. Some examples include:

• Annatto (E160b), a reddish-orange dye made from the seed of the achiote
• Betanin (E162) extracted from beets
• Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea), a blue food dye
• Caramel coloring (E150), made from caramelized sugar
• Chlorophyllin (E140), a green dye made from chlorella algae
• Elderberry juice
• Lycopene (E160d)
• Cochineal (E120), a red dye derived from the cochineal insect, Dactylopius coccus
• Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius), a green food coloring
• Paprika (E160c)
• Turmeric (curcuminoids, E100)
• Saffron (carotenoids, E160a)