Synthetic colors in some locally available foods in Kashan, 2015

Objectives: The synthetic colors are preferred by the food industry because of the variety of shades, intensity, uniformity, excellent solubility and stability. They are used in a variety of food products, such as beverages, dairy products, confections, baked products, dry mixes and pet foods. Food colors may have toxic effect on human body. Furthermore, colors may be associated with various complications such as asthma, urticaria, abortion, hyperactivity of children, carcinogenicity, decreased IQ of children, anaphylactic reactions, idiosyncrasy, weakening of the immune system, decreased WBC and lymphocyte count and vitamin B6 deficiency. Therefore, there is a necessity to control the content of the synthetic colors in foods. The aim of this study was the evaluation of synthetic colors in some locally available foods in Kashan, 2015.Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study, a total of 51 samples of meat products, 33 samples of sweets and 42 samples of beverages were collected from the Kashan, 2015. The coloring agents were extracted of samples and purified using the hydrochloric acid extraction method. Thin layer chromatography was used to analyze the samples.Results Conclusion: Based on obtained results, the 46.82% (59 samples) contained no coloring and 53.18% (67 samples) contained coloring. The most coloring agents were in sweets (72%), meat products (47.1%) and beverages (45.23%), respectively. The Quinoline yellow, Sun set yellow and Tartrazine were the most common coloring used in the beverages, sweets and meat products. This study showed that the need for increased awareness to reduce the use of non-permitted coloring in different kind products and to replace them with natural colors to preserve community health. ,