Caramel coloring is the most widely used in the world. However, it would nonetheless be harmful to our health, according to a brand new study conducted by the Scientific Institute of Public Health based in Brussels, Belgium.
Let’s be clear, caramel without additives (E150a), a mixture of water and sugar, does not present a health hazard. It is only when it is mixed with ammonia and / or sulphites that it becomes harmful, which commonly occurs in the food industry, for aesthetic and olfactory purposes.
The ISP has in fact found that ammonia and sulphites added to three of the four classes of dye caramel (E150b, E150c and E150d) caused the appearance of harmful neoformed substances. The ISP has retained four of them as potentially toxic and carcinogenic : THI, which prevents the proper functioning of immune reactions, 2-MEI and 4-MEI, chemicals potentially carcinogenic to humans, according to the International Agency for Research against Cancer, and 5-HMF, at high toxicological risk.
For the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), there is no need to be alarmed, the important thing being to “Keep the concentrations of newly formed substances as low as possible”.
In its press release, the ISP specifies that the goal is simply to make the general public aware of the concept of neoformed substances, and the reality behind the title “caramel color”. The study also points out that, while the standard is not necessarily harmful to adults, it can be harmful to children, whose diets are very rich in processed products.
Source:
CARAMEL, A NOT SO BLOODY COLORANT OMNIPRESENT IN OUR FOOD, Scientific Institute of Public Health, published August 21, 2014.
