HOW DANGEROUS ARE ARTIFICIAL FOOD DYES?

 Food dyes are everywhere:

A surprising amount of the food we consume contains various compounds to add color. Marshmallows look white, but they contain blue coloring (to keep them from growing less bright as they sit on shelves). Starbucks uses food coloring in its strawberry drinks. And frozen meat, like fish and crab meat, contains red food coloring to make it more appealing.

Red dyes, in particular, have had a colorful history.

• The Aztecs crushed an insect, the cochineal, which produces a nasty-tasting compound called carminic acid, which can make up as much as 24% the body weight, dunked the product into an acific solution, mixed it with salts, and produced carmine dye, which is a vibrant red color.
• 
  Then there is Red Dye #3
• In 1856, William Henry Perkin, at the age of 18 in Germany, was the first to synthesize a a dye.  Experimenting with derivatives of coal tar, he produced mauveine, a purple dye.
• In 1876, Swiss chemist Karl Kussmaul of Switzerland created erythrosine (means red in Greek), for dying silk and wool.

• 
  In the later 1800s, artificial food colorings made from arsenic, lead and mercury, were widely used to tint everyday foods, like butter and cheese to camouflage product defects.  
• In 1906, the U.S. Department of Agriculture performed safety testing of synthetic dyes for coloring food. 
• 
  Erythrosine passed the test, and was renamed Red Dye #3 for the American market.
• Coal tar dyes became popular in the 1920s and 30s.  The 1938 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act required indicating which dyes came from coal.  One toxic eyelash dye, for example left some women blind.
• 
  In 1968, Soviet scientists declared that Red Dye #2, also known as amaranth, caused cancer.  This product was being used since 1878, and Mars candy company stopped making red M&Ms, even though this dye was NOT being used.  Finally in 1976, the Food and Drug Administration banned Red #2 in food, drugs and cosmetics, for this dye caused cancer.

• 
  So on came Red Dye #3, used in a whole lot of products you have consumed, like tomato sauce, various candies, various kinds of rice, pink and red-colored drinks, red cakes and medicine capsules, like, for example, acetaminophen.

• 
  In 1990 the FDA banned Red Dye#3 from the cosmetics industry, because lab tests showed it caused cancer in rats, and said it would soon ban this dye soon from foods.
• 35 years later, in January, the FDA banned Red Dye #3.  However manufacturers have until 15January2027, and drug companies until 18January2028.
• However, Canada doesn't think #3 is that bad, so watch out for red products from that country.
• Keep in mind that only rats have been affected.  There are no records for human cancers, but there are signs that those already with cancer can be further harmed.  Plus, there are signals toward causing breast cancer.
• 
  Manufacturers began to use Red Dye #40, which is made from petroleum.  
• Also called Allura Red, E129, and FD&C Red 40.  
• This dye was approved for food and drugs in the 70's.  
• 94% of those in the U.S. have consumed Red Dye #40.
• Iceland and Norway have already outlawed the use of #40 in foods.
• Some reluctance about an outright ban because its carcinogenity is less pronounced, and there are "only" signs of thyroid malfunctioning.
• 
  Some companies are now beginning to switch back to natural food colorants, like from beets and pomegranates.  And, by the way, that Aztec carmine dye?  It is returning into your foods.  Insect parts?
• Finally, there are other colors in jeopardy.
• California has been leading the charge into banning chemically derived food colorants by 31December2027.
• Foods served in schools must now be free of Blue #1, Blue #2, Green #3, Red #40, Yellow #5 and Yellow #6.
• Basically, they all cause cancer.

In short, food  dyes are the ingredients for a rainbow of risks.  According to Google AI Overview:

Food dyes, both natural and synthetic, have been used for centuries, with evidence suggesting their use as early as 1500 BC. Initially, natural colorants from plants and minerals were used. The use of synthetic dyes, derived from coal tar, became prominent in the mid-19th century after William Henry Perkin's discovery of mauveine in 1856. 

In the United States, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 reduced the permitted list of synthetic colors from 700 down to seven. The seven dyes initially approved were Ponceau 3R (FD&C Red No. 1), amaranth (FD&C Red No. 2), erythrosine (FD&C Red No. 3), indigotine(FD&C Blue No. 2), light green SF (FD&C Green No. 2), naphthol yellow 1 (FD&C Yellow No. 1), and orange 1 (FD&C Orange No. 1).  

• 
  In 1962, the first EU directive (62/2645/EEC) approved 36 colorants, of which 20 were naturally derived and 16 were synthetic. ^[23]  
• The Food and Drug Administration, and most world counterparts, traditionally exempt pigments from vegetables, mineral and animals.
• The global market for food coloring will grow from $4.6 billion in 2023 to $6 billion in 2028.
• Certain locales, such as California, have implement regulations restricting artificial dies that impact children's behavior.
• Canada used maximum concentrations as a target. such as 150 parts per million ponceau SX dye.
• Since 2006, India permits eight artificial colorings in food:

SL No.	Color	Common name	INS No.	Chemical class
1	Red	Ponceau 4R	124	Azo
		Carmoisine	122	Azo
		Erythrosine	127	Xanthene
2	Yellow	Tartrazine	102	Pyrazolone
		Sunset yellow FCF	110	Azo
3	Blue	Indigo carmine	132	Indigoid
		Brilliant blue FCF	133	Triarylmethane
4	Green	Fast green FCF	143	Triarylmethane

• 
  In the U.S., we are in a grand transition.  RFK Jr, secretary of Health and Human Services is looking to phase out these dyes by 2026 (2027 for Red No. 3):

• 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)^[43]
• 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)

Two dyes are allowed by the FDA for limited applications:

• Citrus red 2 (orange shade) – allowed only to color orange peels.
• Orange B (red shade) – allowed only for use in hot dog and sausage casings (not produced after 1978, but not delisted)

However, the Food and Drug Administration is planning to authorize four new colorings before then.

Many dyes have already been dilisted:

• FD&C Red No. 2 – Amaranth, E123
• FD&C Red No. 4 – Scarlet GN, E125^[45][46]
• FD&C Red No. 32 was used to color Florida oranges.^[44][45][47]
• 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.^[44][45]
• FD&C Orange No. 2 was used to color Florida oranges.^[44]
• FD&C Yellow No. 1, 2, 3, and 4^[45]
• FD&C Violet No. 1^[45]

Finally in the U.S., Titanium Dioxide is being evaluated to exclude in foods, beverages, toothpaste and cosmetics.  European studies link this compound to damaging DNA and cancer-causing.

• TiO2 is the whitest and brightest of all known pigments.
• Food products look whiter or brighter with TO2, while this molecule aids UV protection.
• You can find titanium dioxide in products like:

• ‌Milk
• Coffee creamer
• Salad dressing
• Candy and sweets
• Chocolate
• Chewing gum
• Snacks
• Sauces
• Vitamin supplements

Seems like you can't eat anything or use any cosmetic these days when they all have possibly dangerous dyes.  Look closely at labels, and you can swap foodstuffs , as two solutions.

To close, here is an article from the MD Anderson Center that somewhat balances the reality.

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