What’s in red 40 food coloring?

Are you the kind of person who reads food labels? Of course not. But, do you get a weird itch when someone mentions an ingredient you’ve never heard of? If so, keep reading to find out what the heck is actually in Red 40. Spoiler alert it’s probably not that bad for you.

What is Red 40?

First things first, let’s establish some basic knowledge. Red 40 is a synthetic food coloring with an intense reddish hue that has been widely used since the early ’70s. Skittles anyone? It can be found in a lot of processed foods like candy, cake mixes, and even medication coatings.

The History

In case you’re curious about all shades of history (see what I did there?), here are some fun facts:

  • In its early days as “Allura red AC,” scientists discovered it could cause cancerous tumors in rats.
  • After much testing and retesting throughout decades,it was eventually declared safe by almost every government regulation board.
  • Its production involves petroleum derivatives which doesn’t sound yummy but don’t worry you consume worse on your pizza toppings.

How Is It Made?

It might surprise to learn that the process for making artificial coloring ranges from quite simple to pretty complex. Color chemistry sounds fancy!

Starting with Petroleum

The journey starts with petroleum which gets distilled into naphtha or crude oil fraction before being transformed into aromatic hydrocarbons called benzene and toluene.

A Few Chemical Reactions Later…

After many reactions including sulfonation and oxidation voila! You have azo dyes including Allura red AC/Red 40/Yellow tartrazine/Brilliant Blue FCF among others.

Formula Time!

Don’t mind me just geeking out over chemical formulas 😜:

C18H14N2Na2O9S3

Quite straightforward isn’t it?

Why Use Red 40?

Now, you’re probably wondering why food companies want you to eat red dye #40. Here are three reasons:

Appearance

It gives your bland cereal/medicine/pastry/ product a brighter, almost violent-red color that attempts but fails to excite your taste buds.

Cost

Synthetic ingredients cost way less than natural ones but hey an expectation in pricing when both bring the same amount of funds value for marketing campaigns like ‘eat our yummy products’

Preservation

You can spot this arguable reason in things such as fruit cocktail or canned bologna. Companies claim they add red dye #40 and other synthetic dyes because without them their products would look dull or greyish-brownish terribly unappetizing.

Is It Safe?

The million-dollar question (or maybe just penny). We get conflicting information, online debates and rumor mills do we not? So let’s sort out some facts!

The Good News

According to the FDA, consuming Red 40 does not pose any identifiable health concerns which is interesting since most sites say otherwise barring reliable sources conducting actual tests/laboratory results vs hearsay created by millennials on Reddit.

Another positive point regarding its consumption is protecting against low oxygen levels which threaten higher altitude farming areas growing tomatoes maize etc.
Isn’t science grand?

The Bad News

On the other hand! Long-term exposure of lab rats ingesting high doses led to tested abnormalities including tumors although these findings have not been replicated among humans at normal usage levels. Let’s remind ourselves once over “normal usages” -for context- consists of %of daily diet according to several countries regulation boards including US/UK/European Union rationing similar around 4mg/# body weight per day for adults; don’t worry if you go over Red 40 will not poof you into a reality TV show. Lastly, an allergy reaction to the dye has been reported for individuals who are allergic to aspirin or have chronic hives which is a pretty small percentage.

The Verdict

To keep it real, you can easily avoid Red 40 by eating whole foods (shocker!). While of course candy tastes way better than carrots but carrot puree in cake does give some actual nutrition.

Conclusion – Eat Whole Foods

So there you have it folks! We’ve explored what’s in Red food coloring and its long-standing history; now look out for it next time shopping being enriched with fact-twisted anecdotes from random opposite ends of internet anonymity i.e. the wild west regions without any reliable sources- rather try incorporating colorful veggies/fruits/nuts/spices/legumes/seeds as source instead ,they all come naturally packed with vitamins and fibbers doesn’t that sound exciting? It’s like doing your own version of art where eat involves creative presentation prepare to dazzle your taste buds alongside beautiful plate colorage👩‍🎨.

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