Synthetic food colouring is commonly used in many processed foods, such as candies, bread, salad dressing, Christmas cakes and Chinese New Year red melon seeds to make them more tantalising. However, do you have any idea how safe these chemicals are?
In fact, many of the artificial food dyes are made from petroleum and are linked to a myriad of health concerns, including hyperactivity in children, allergic reactions and even increasing the chance of getting cancer. The situation is exacerbated when we are exposed to a number of other common food additives including artificial flavours and preservatives; hence creating a “cocktail” effect with unknown but potentially serious harmful consequences. An alternative is natural dyes which are extracted from natural sources, such as flower juice, plant roots, etc. They generally pose less health risks but are less stable and more expensive to make.
Some doubt that the sole purpose of food dyes is to mislead consumers into thinking that the colourful food is healthful and it tastes as good as fresh fruits and vegetables. Many uninformed consumers are eating them at the detriment to their health. Considering their negative impact on us, especially children, we should try our best to shy away from them and look for food with only natural ingredients. When we have to buy processed food, we need to make it a habit to look at the label to watch out for artificial dyes and other additives. While consumers in the western countries are advocating banning all artificial colouring in food, it may be a while for the government to take this big step. In the meantime, to take our own health into our own hands, we should avoid processed foods as much as possible.
| JPC Monthly Newsletter | |
| Editor： | Police Public Relations Branch, 11/F Arsenal House, Police Headquarters, No. 1 Arsenal Street, Wan Chai, HK. |
| Tel： | 2860 6157 |
| Fax： | 2200 4304 |
| JPC homepage： | http://www.hkpjpc.org.hk |
| Police homepage： | http://www.police.gov.hk |