Food color additives are the major part of our lifestyle. Many are used to provide different colors tints to your fruit punch, or red/green color to your toothpaste. Color additives are natural pigments, dyes and other substances that give color to food or any other item when added to them.
But, are they safe? Do these dyes enhance the cancer risk?
Cancer is one of the major health concerns that threaten the world. There are many hidden cancer risks which we all might don't know about. It includes excessive intake of alcohol or adopting an unhealthy lifestyle and suffering from problems like obesity.
Undoubtedly, today you can find various areas of chemotherapeutic drugs, including lyophilized injections or tablets that significantly help to treat associated cancer. For instance, cabazitaxel is an effective and well-tolerated drug for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after docetaxel therapy.
However, prevention is always better than cure. Keep your health up-to-date and protect yourself from the foods, surrounding substances and unhealthy lifestyle habits that can enhance the cancer risk. Color additives might be one of the causes of cancer.
Let's explore what is the reality:
According to Linda Katz, Director of the Office of Cosmetics and Colors in FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), “Color additives are safe when used properly.”
However, there are some additives used in food, dietary supplements, medical devices, cosmetics, or drugs which can be harmful for your health. Such additives are subject by law and only approved for use according to approved specifications, restrictions and uses.
Color Additives Associated With Increased Cancer Risk
Based on various scientific reports, there are some dyes or additives which can prove to be harmful for our health.
Let's explore:
- The synthetic food colorants like quinoline yellow, sunset yellow FCF, Allura Red AC, tartrazine, carmoisine and Ponceau 4R found to be associated with hyperactivity and attention deficit.
- Out of these, the Allura Red AC is associated with increased cancer risk as this colorant can lead to DNA damage, developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, chromosomal aberration, reproductive toxicity, and phytotoxicity.
- The benzidine-based dyes also found to be associated with an increased risk of developing bladder cancer further in life.
- Three dyes named Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Red 40 are known to be contaminated with benzidine or other carcinogens.
It is proposed that regulatory authorities need superior and independent toxicity testing, practice greater caution associating continued approval of such color additives, and henceforth approve only well-tested, safe color additives.
Color Additives Associated with Cancer Preventive
On one hand, where synthetic colorants have a negative impact on health. There are natural colorants that are more effective and safe than synthetic colorants. For instance,
One of the carotenoids, β-carotene is a potent pigment that has a positive impact on overall health and skin protection.
Lycopene is another pigment, majorly found in tomatoes is also known to associate with a reduced risk of breast, cervical, and prostate cancer.
Curcumin is also a natural colorant that provides a yellow tint to respective foods or elements. This pigment is also known to be a powerful antioxidant and effective against cancer formation and progression.
For a healthy inner, you should prefer foods with no color additives and preservatives. Always go for colors which are prepared of natural colorants. Try to adopt a healthy and natural lifestyle to reduce the cancer risk.
Also, read how yoga can help you to protect from cancer.