Dye Concentration in Colored Candies in Bojnourd City in 2016

Authors

Abstract

Background: Candy and similar products, although not considered as a complete food, are among high-consumed foods by children, and sometimes by pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to determine the dyes used in candies supplied in Bojnourd City in 2016.
 
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 90 colored candy samples (saffron, cacao, orange, cherry) randomly collected from different regions of Bojnourd in 2016. The color content of all samples was measured according to National Standard 2634 by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC).
 
Results: According to the results, 17.7% of the samples had natural color and 82.3% of the candies contained artificial colors. Among samples containing synthetic color, 90.5% of the samples contained approved artificial color, and only 9.5% of the samples had unauthorized artificial color. Sunset Yellow was the most common color used in the candy samples.
 
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that illegal use of synthetic dyes in food has become widespread, which is a threat to the health of the community; therefore, reducing the consumption of these colors and replacing natural colors with emphasize on their beneficial properties is necessary.
 

Keywords


1. International Food Standards, Food and Agriculture Organization, World Health Organization. Standard for Chocolate and Chocolate Products. CODEX STAN 87 – 1981; 2016 [cited 2018 Sep 17]. Available from: http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/sh-proxy/ar/?lnk=1&url=https%253A%252F%252Fworkspace.fao.org%252Fsites%252Fcodex%252FStandards%252FCODEX%2BSTAN%2B87-1981%252FCXS_087e.pdf 2. Hinton DM. US FDA "Redbook II" immunotoxicity testing guidelines and research in immunotoxicity evaluations of food chemicals and new food proteins. Toxicologic Pathology 2000; 28(3):467-78. 3. Collins TFX, Sprando RL, Shackelford ME, Hansen DK, Welsh JJ. Food and drug administration proposed testing guidelines for developmental toxicity studies. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 1999;30(1):39-44. 4. Silbergeld EK. Preventing lead poisoning in children. Annu Rev Public Health 1997;18:187-210. 5. Lin CS, Shoaf SE, Griffiths JC. Pharmacokinetic data in the evaluation of the safety of food and color additives. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 1992;15(1):62-72. 6. Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. Evaluation of Certain Food Additives and Contamination. Rome, Italy. Report number: 67, 2006. 7. Pourahmad J. General Toxicology. 1th ed. Tehran: Samat; 2006. Persian 8. Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran. ISIRI. 2634: 1988. Tar-based additive colors in food (test method). Tehran: ISIRI; 1988. Persian 9. Farzianpour F, Khaniki GJ, Younesian M, Younesian M, Banaei Ghahferkhi B, Sadeghi M, Hosseini S. Evaluation of food color consumption and determining color type by thin layer chromatography. American Journal of Applied Sciences 2013;10(2): 172-8. 10. Ashfaq N, Masud T. Surveillance on artifical colours in different ready to eat foods. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition 2002; 1(5):223-5. 11. Jalilevand F, Rahimi Niaraki A, Sadeghi Niaraki A, Haizade Safari R. Evaluation of artificial colors in saffron extract Qazvin restaurants in 2008. 11th National Congress on Environmental Health; 2009 Nov 3; Tehran; Shahid Bheshti University of Medical Sciences; 2009. p. 2666-73. 12. Macioszek VK, Kononowicz AK. The evaluation of the genotoxicity of two commonly used food colors: Quinoline Yellow (E 104) and Brilliant Black BN (E 151). Cell Mol Biol Lett 2004;9(1):107-22. 13. Soltan Dallal MM, Mohammadi HR, Dastbaz A, Vahedi S, Salsali M, Arasteh M, et al. The analysis of status of added colors to dried sweets in South of Tehran using thin layer chromatography. J Gorgan Univ Med Sci 2007; 9(1):73-8. Persian 14. Rezaei M, SafarAbadi F, Sharifi Z, Karimi F, Alimohammadi M, Susan Abadi RA, et al. Assessment of synthetic dyes in food stuffs produced in confectioneries and restaurants in Arak, Iran. Thrita 2014; 3(4): e22776. 15. Aalipour F, Mahdavi F. Determine the prevalence of food contamination to synthetic colors with thin layer chromatography in Shahrekord. J Shahrekord Univ Med Sci 2016; 17(6):103-12. Persian 16. Soltan Dallal MM, Vahedi S, Najjarian A, Dastbaze A, Kaffashi T, Pirhadi E, et al. Study of concentration of added colors to juice of black cherry and juice of barberry on display in shop in the city of Tehran. Payavard Salamat 2008;2(1):55-62. Persian 17. Arast Y, Mohamadian M, Noruzi M, Ramuz Z. Surveillance on artificial colors in different confectionary products by chromatography in Qom. Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences 2013;15(3):62-4. 18. Dixit S, Purshottam SK, Gupta SK, Khanna SK, Das M. Usage pattern and exposure assessment of food colours in different age groups of consumers in the State of Uttar Pradesh, India. Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess 2010;27(2):181-9. 19. Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran. ISIRI. 740:1976. Food colours. Tehran: ISIRI; 2013. 20. Stevens LJ, Burgess JR, Stochelski MA, Kuczek T. Amounts of artificial food colors in commonly consumed beverages and potential behavioral implications for consumption in children. Clin Pediatr (Phila) 2014;53(2):133-40.