Food Dyes : History And History Of Food Dyes

Today many of the foods we buy from the store, especially packaged foods contain food additives and food dyes and majority of the population knows chemicals that are added to foods are not healthy choices and may lead to negative health effects. In this paper I will be discussing how food additives and food dyes promote and trigger a health problem known as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According to Health Canada “a food additive is any chemical substance that is added to food during preparation or storage and either becomes a part of the food or affects its characteristics for the purpose of achieving a particular technical effect (1).” Food products containing food additives

Artificial food dyes can be found in many products sold in the United States including food, cosmetics, medicine, and even cleaning products. The FDA allows for seven dyes to be used in food products: Blue 1, Blue 2, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Green 6.1 Although this number is much lower than the over 80 dyes allowed in the early 20th century, many people are debating whether the 7 that are still allowed are safe.2

When red dye came to the world only the rich and powerful could have it.

Beetroots contain Betalains which are the red pigments present in the cell vacuole. Betalains are soluble in water and they contain nitrogen. Betalains extracted from beetroot is commonly used as food dye because it is not known to cause any allergic reactions.

From a historical perspective it was intriguing to discover how dyes affected the hierarchy in the ancient world. The repeated use of dyes represented a transition in humanity from simple hunting and gathering societies; to well developed structured governments and economies where people focused less on survival and more on status. Colors in ancient times represented political, military, and social status. Without the discovery of dyes kings would be clothed just like the normal people giving them a less godly appearance and less power. Even today certain connotations exist with colors like black for evil white for good, etc... The authors include this essay to demonstrate man’s first foray into chemistry by mixing and blending dyes to create more extravagant colors to sell. The lust for colorful clothes drove vendors to create more eccentric dyes, thereby forcing them to utilize experimental chemistry to create new shades and hues. The book here focuses too much on the historical aspects. I can see the relationship but it is weak and describing the chemical make up of colors doesn’t explain why it relates to history.

The color of food is an integral part of our culture and enjoyment of life. Who would deny the mouth-watering appeal of a deep-pink strawberry ice cream on a hot summer's day or a golden Thanksgiving turkey garnished with fresh green parsley?

Food dyes are additives that help to give food and other items a more colorful and appealing look. Originally, food dyes were made out of natural ingredients such as fruit juice, vegetables, and in some cases, bugs. However, as time went on, other ways to make food dyes were created. Natural food dyes lead to synthetic coal tar food dyes, and eventually synthetic coal tar food dyes led to petroleum based synthetic food dyes. Synthetic food dye colors certified for food use are Food Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) Blue No. 1, FD&C Blue No. 2, Citrus Red No. 2, FD&C Green No. 3, Orange B, FD&C Red No. 3, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5, and FD&C Yellow No. 6 (Kobylewski, 2010). Using just these nine dyes, there are over 360,000 different color combinations available.

The pigment comes from the coating of the seeds it is not uncommon to see this colorant as a paste or a powder. Coming from a Hispanic family, I am surprised to learn that the coloring that is used in tacos al pastor is being used in the food I consumed. This colorant is exempted from the FDA guide lines because of it being a natural substance not a man-made colorant.

When the ants ate the gelatin then the abdomen changed to the color of the gelatin eaten.. Another site, http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/soar/sciproj2006/whitney6.html, posted about a science project that used three different colors of bird feeders, green, blue, and silver, used to determine the preference of the bird that visit the area.

In the early centuries clothes mainly consisted of neutral fiber colors such as black, white or beige. Dyes were used in bringing brighter colors to clothing. According to Miley, M. (2012), “Some people used the most vivid colors to portray wealth, royalty or power” (pg.1). People of wealth, royalty or power were easily identified among a city’s population. This statement makes sense because clothing back then generally consisted of primary colors until brighter colors were introduced.

Contrast dye is a pharmaceutical liquid accentuate specific injuries. The dye can help specific organs, blood vessels and tissue types accurately visual. It is used in xray, fluoroscopy and computed tomography scans. Contrast dye is a solution administrated into a person one of three ways: Intravenously, orally, or rectally. The agent can be injected into a joint space and most commonly is in orthopedics. Barium and iodine is most commonly used agent. It has a relatively harmless interaction with the body. Although it is normally harmless. All things can have a bad reaction though. There are many side effects to using contrast dye. Most are not serious and can be taken care of. It can range from itching and warmth to a life threatening emergency. Radiologist technologist try taking precaution for these situations. We will always have some cases, but our main priority is how can we lower the amount of people who has side effects?

Nature identical colors: They have the same chemical structures found in natural sources, but they were chemically synthesized, rather than being extracted from natural sources out of the consideration of cost saving (Color maker Inc. 2014). β-Carotene is an example (Color maker Inc 2014). The nature identical color is not safe either. Put aside the residues of reactants and byproducts used and produced in the reaction left in the reaction product beta-carotene. First, the natural beta-carotene are cis-trans isomeric mixtures containing two different isomers (9-cis and all-trans with same molecular formula but different structure), while the synthetic beta-carotene is consisted of the all-trans isomer. That means, synthesized beta-carotene

Regarding the quality factors of fresh meat, colour is the most important one that influences the decisions of consumers to buy the meat (Mancini & Hunt, 2005). Consumers, in general, cannot evaluate the odour and also feel the texture of meat without opening the packages. Thus, a bright cherry-red colour represents an indicator of wholesomeness in fresh meat (Suman & Joseph, 2013). Discolored meat is seen as bacterially deteriorated but is also a chemical process. It has been estimated that discoloration impacts on the price and this leads as a result in more than one billion dollars in revenue loss for the United States meat industry every year (Smith et al,

Parents are and should always be concerned with the growth and development of their children. Responsible parents protect their children from dangerous things that could have a devastating impact on their bodies. This includes actions such as touching a hot stove, running with scissors, and eating food off the ground. Parents are often compared to bears. A mother bear will go out of her way to ferociously protect her cubs. Human parents, however, are not living up to the standard. Children are still getting affected by very subtle chemicals that many people know and love- food dyes. By excluding food dyes from grocery lists, Americans can keep the impacts of food dyes on children, such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), in the public spotlight to inform consumers of the negative effects on

What is naturally blue? The only one that comes to mind is blueberries, but are there any more. In contrast the list of yellow and red fruits and vegetables is copious. So how can anything blue be naturally colored when blueberries are the only pure food blue?(Gilman) Colored added to food is one of the most regulated food ingredient; any color added to food is passed by the Food and Drug Administration. But why are all these food dyes so bad. Color additions are what make food look appetizing; “It is said that we ’eat with our eyes as much as with our mouths’”.