Sunset Yellow FCF
Encyclopedia
Sunset Yellow FCF is a synthetic yellow azo
dye
, manufactured from aromatic hydrocarbon
s from petroleum
. When added to foods, it is denoted by E Number
E110. Although there are reports it can induce an allergic
reaction, this is not confirmed by scientific research.
foods which must be heat treated. It may be found in orange sodas, marzipan
, Swiss roll
s, apricot jam, citrus marmalade
, lemon curd
, sweets
, beverage mix and packet soups, margarine, custard powders, packaged lemon gelatin desserts, energy drink
s such as Lucozade
, breadcrumb
s, snack chips such as Doritos
, packaged instant noodles, cheese sauce mixes and powdered marinades, bottled yellow and green food colouring, ice creams, pharmaceutical pills and prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines (especially children's medicines) cake decorations and icings, squashes, and other products with artificial yellow, orange or red colours.
Sunset Yellow is often used in conjunction with E123, amaranth
, to produce a brown colouring in both chocolates and caramel.
At high concentration
s, Sunset Yellow in solution
with water
undergoes a phase change from an isotropic liquid
to a nematic liquid crystal
. This occurs between 0.8 M and 0.9 M at room temperature
.
, a possible carcinogen, which is frequently present in it as an impurity. Sunset Yellow itself may be responsible for causing an allergic reaction
in people with an aspirin
intolerance, resulting in various symptoms, including gastric upset, diarrhea, vomiting, nettle rash (urticaria
), swelling of the skin (angioedema
) and migraines. The colouring has also been linked to hyperactivity in young children.
The following additives were tested in the research:
On 6 September 2007, the British Food Standards Agency
revised advice on certain artificial food additives, including E110. The report said, "This has been a major study investigating an important area of research. The results suggest that consumption of certain mixtures of artificial food colours and sodium benzoate preservative are associated with increases in hyperactive behaviour in children.
"However, parents should not think that simply taking these additives out of food will prevent hyperactive disorders. We know that many other influences are at work but this at least is one a child can avoid."
On 10 April 2008, the Foods Standard Agency called for a voluntary removal of the colours (but not sodium benzoate) by 2009. In addition, it recommended there should be action to phase them out in food and drink in the European Union (EU) over a specified period.
Sunset Yellow is banned in Norway
and Finland
.
In 2008, a proposed EU deal specified that food and drinks containing any of six artificial colourings that may be linked to hyperactive behaviour in children will have to carry warnings, including Sunset Yellow. The requirement would apply to imports, as well as those made in the EU. Hundreds of products containing the colourings are expected to disappear from shops in the period 2008-2010 following the Food Standards Agency
's (FSA) call for a voluntary ban on their use in food products. UK ministers have agreed that the six colourings will be phased out by 2009.
EFSA
decided in 2009 to lower the acceptable daily intake
(ADI) for Sunset Yellow FCF from 2.5 mg
/kg
to 1.0 mg/kg bodyweight per day . Impurities in production may leave unsulphonated aromatic amine
s in concentrations of 100 mg/kg which may be associated with carcinogen
icity. Also a study found that mixtures of four synthetic colours plus the preservative sodium benzoate
(E211) cause increased hyperactivity in humans. Sensitivity reactions may occur when Sunset Yellow FCF is mixed with other synthetic colours.
Also, the EFSA panel noted the JECFA
limit for lead
is ≤ 2 mg/kg, whereas the EC
specification is ≤ 10 mg/kg. The colour additive can also increase the intake of aluminium
beyond the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of 1 mg/kg/week. Therefore, the limit for aluminum may become adjusted to accommodate for this.
On June 30, 2010, the Center for Science in the Public Interest
(CSPI) called for the FDA to ban Yellow 6. The CSPI said, "These synthetic chemicals do absolutely nothing to improve the nutritional quality or safety of foods, but trigger behavior problems in children and, possibly, cancer in anybody."
On September 9, 2011 the European Union announced that they would be reducing the maximum permitted concentration of sunset yellow (in drinks) from 50mg/L to 20mg/L. The proposed change to be adopted by the end of the year.
Azo compound
Azo compounds are compounds bearing the functional group R-N=N-R', in which R and R' can be either aryl or alkyl. IUPAC defines azo compounds as: "Derivatives of diazene , HN=NH, wherein both hydrogens are substituted by hydrocarbyl groups, e.g. PhN=NPh azobenzene or diphenyldiazene." The more...
dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
, manufactured from aromatic hydrocarbon
Aromatic hydrocarbon
An aromatic hydrocarbon or arene is a hydrocarbon with alternating double and single bonds between carbon atoms. The term 'aromatic' was assigned before the physical mechanism determining aromaticity was discovered, and was derived from the fact that many of the compounds have a sweet scent...
s from petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
. When added to foods, it is denoted by E Number
E number
E numbers are number codes for food additives that have been assessed for use within the European Union . They are commonly found on food labels throughout the European Union. Safety assessment and approval are the responsibility of the European Food Safety Authority...
E110. Although there are reports it can induce an allergic
Allergy
An Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid...
reaction, this is not confirmed by scientific research.
Uses
Sunset Yellow is useful in fermentedFermentation (food)
Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
foods which must be heat treated. It may be found in orange sodas, marzipan
Marzipan
Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal. Persipan is a similar, yet less expensive product, in which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels...
, Swiss roll
Swiss roll
A Swiss roll or jelly roll is a type of sponge cake roll. The thin cake is made of eggs, flour and sugar and baked in a very shallow rectangular baking tray, called a sheet pan. The cake is removed from the pan and spread with jam or buttercream, rolled up, and served in circular slices.The...
s, apricot jam, citrus marmalade
Marmalade
Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits, boiled with sugar and water. The benchmark citrus fruit for marmalade production in Britain is the "Seville orange" from Spain, Citrus aurantium var...
, lemon curd
Lemon curd
Fruit curd is a dessert spread and topping usually made with lemon, lime, orange or raspberry. The basic ingredients are beaten egg yolks, sugar, fruit juice and zest which are gently cooked together until thick and then allowed to cool, forming a soft, smooth, intensely-flavored spread...
, sweets
SweetS
was a Japanese idol group. Put together through auditions, the group debuted in 2003 on the avex trax label. Although the group met minor success, they disbanded after three years with the release of a final single in June 2006....
, beverage mix and packet soups, margarine, custard powders, packaged lemon gelatin desserts, energy drink
Energy drink
Energy drinks are beverages whose producers advertise that they "boost energy." These advertisements usually do not emphasize energy derived from the sugar and caffeine they contain but rather increased energy release due to a variety of stimulants and vitamins....
s such as Lucozade
Lucozade
Lucozade is an umbrella name for a 6 series of energy and sports drinks, produced by GlaxoSmithKline in Gloucestershire. The former company became part of Beecham and, after the mergers of SmithKline and Beecham in 2000, GlaxoSmithKline....
, breadcrumb
Breadcrumb
Breadcrumbs or bread crumbs are small particles of dry bread, which are used for breading or crumbing foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thickening stews, and adding inexpensive bulk to meatloaves and similar foods. They are documented in cookbooks as early as 1716...
s, snack chips such as Doritos
Doritos
Doritos is a brand of seasoned tortilla chips created by Arch West and produced since 1964 by the American food company Frito-Lay ....
, packaged instant noodles, cheese sauce mixes and powdered marinades, bottled yellow and green food colouring, ice creams, pharmaceutical pills and prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines (especially children's medicines) cake decorations and icings, squashes, and other products with artificial yellow, orange or red colours.
Sunset Yellow is often used in conjunction with E123, amaranth
Amaranth (dye)
Amaranth, FD&C Red No. 2, E123, C.I. Food Red 9, Acid Red 27, Azorubin S, or C.I. 16185, is a dark red to purple azo dye once used as a food dye and to color cosmetics, but since 1976 it has been banned in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration as it is a suspected carcinogen. It...
, to produce a brown colouring in both chocolates and caramel.
At high concentration
Concentration
In chemistry, concentration is defined as the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Four types can be distinguished: mass concentration, molar concentration, number concentration, and volume concentration...
s, Sunset Yellow in solution
Solution
In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. The solvent does the dissolving.- Types of solutions :...
with water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
undergoes a phase change from an isotropic liquid
Liquid
Liquid is one of the three classical states of matter . Like a gas, a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Some liquids resist compression, while others can be compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly...
to a nematic liquid crystal
Liquid crystal
Liquid crystals are a state of matter that have properties between those of a conventional liquid and those of a solid crystal. For instance, an LC may flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a crystal-like way. There are many different types of LC phases, which can be...
. This occurs between 0.8 M and 0.9 M at room temperature
Room temperature
-Comfort levels:The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers has listings for suggested temperatures and air flow rates in different types of buildings and different environmental circumstances. For example, a single office in a building has an occupancy ratio per...
.
Possible health effects
Sunset Yellow is a sulfonated version of Sudan ISudan I
Sudan I , is a lysochrome, a diazo-conjugate dye with the chemical formula of 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol. Sudan I is a powdered substance with an orange-red appearance. The additive is mainly used to colour waxes, oils, petrol, solvents and polishes...
, a possible carcinogen, which is frequently present in it as an impurity. Sunset Yellow itself may be responsible for causing an allergic reaction
Allergy
An Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid...
in people with an aspirin
Aspirin
Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...
intolerance, resulting in various symptoms, including gastric upset, diarrhea, vomiting, nettle rash (urticaria
Urticaria
Urticaria is a kind of skin rash notable for pale red, raised, itchy bumps. Hives is frequently caused by allergic reactions; however, there are many non-allergic causes...
), swelling of the skin (angioedema
Angioedema
Angioedema or Quincke's edema is the rapid swelling of the dermis, subcutaneous tissue, mucosa and submucosal tissues. It is very similar to urticaria, but urticaria, commonly known as hives, occurs in the upper dermis...
) and migraines. The colouring has also been linked to hyperactivity in young children.
The following additives were tested in the research:
- Sunset yellow (E110) (FD&C Yellow #6) - colouring found in squashes
- Carmoisine (E122) - red colouring in jellies
- Tartrazine (E102) (FD&C Yellow #5) - yellow colouring
- Ponceau 4R (E124) - red colouring
- Sodium benzoate (E211) - preservative
- Quinoline yellow (E104) - food colouring
- Allura red AC (E129) (FD&C Red #40) - orange/red food dye
Regulation
As a result of these potential health issues, there have been calls for the withdrawal of Sunset Yellow from food use.On 6 September 2007, the British Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...
revised advice on certain artificial food additives, including E110. The report said, "This has been a major study investigating an important area of research. The results suggest that consumption of certain mixtures of artificial food colours and sodium benzoate preservative are associated with increases in hyperactive behaviour in children.
"However, parents should not think that simply taking these additives out of food will prevent hyperactive disorders. We know that many other influences are at work but this at least is one a child can avoid."
On 10 April 2008, the Foods Standard Agency called for a voluntary removal of the colours (but not sodium benzoate) by 2009. In addition, it recommended there should be action to phase them out in food and drink in the European Union (EU) over a specified period.
Sunset Yellow is banned in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
In 2008, a proposed EU deal specified that food and drinks containing any of six artificial colourings that may be linked to hyperactive behaviour in children will have to carry warnings, including Sunset Yellow. The requirement would apply to imports, as well as those made in the EU. Hundreds of products containing the colourings are expected to disappear from shops in the period 2008-2010 following the Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...
's (FSA) call for a voluntary ban on their use in food products. UK ministers have agreed that the six colourings will be phased out by 2009.
EFSA
European Food Safety Authority
The European Food Safety Authority is an agency of the European Union that provides independent scientific advice and communication on existing and emerging risks associated with the food chain, created by European Regulation 178/2002....
decided in 2009 to lower the acceptable daily intake
Acceptable daily intake
Acceptable daily intake or ADI is a measure of the amount of a specific substance in food or drinking water that can be ingested on a daily basis over a lifetime without an appreciable health risk...
(ADI) for Sunset Yellow FCF from 2.5 mg
Gram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
/kg
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
to 1.0 mg/kg bodyweight per day . Impurities in production may leave unsulphonated aromatic amine
Amine
Amines are organic compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are derivatives of ammonia, wherein one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced by a substituent such as an alkyl or aryl group. Important amines include amino acids, biogenic amines,...
s in concentrations of 100 mg/kg which may be associated with carcinogen
Carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes...
icity. Also a study found that mixtures of four synthetic colours plus the preservative sodium benzoate
Sodium benzoate
Sodium benzoate has the chemical formula NaC6H5CO2; it is a widely used food preservative, with E number E211. It is the sodium salt of benzoic acid and exists in this form when dissolved in water. It can be produced by reacting sodium hydroxide with benzoic acid.-Uses:Sodium benzoate is a...
(E211) cause increased hyperactivity in humans. Sensitivity reactions may occur when Sunset Yellow FCF is mixed with other synthetic colours.
Also, the EFSA panel noted the JECFA
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives
The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives is a scientific expert committee that is jointly run by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization....
limit for lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
is ≤ 2 mg/kg, whereas the EC
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
specification is ≤ 10 mg/kg. The colour additive can also increase the intake of aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
beyond the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of 1 mg/kg/week. Therefore, the limit for aluminum may become adjusted to accommodate for this.
On June 30, 2010, the Center for Science in the Public Interest
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Center for Science in the Public Interest is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit watchdog and consumer advocacy group focusing on nutritional education and awareness.-History and funding:...
(CSPI) called for the FDA to ban Yellow 6. The CSPI said, "These synthetic chemicals do absolutely nothing to improve the nutritional quality or safety of foods, but trigger behavior problems in children and, possibly, cancer in anybody."
On September 9, 2011 the European Union announced that they would be reducing the maximum permitted concentration of sunset yellow (in drinks) from 50mg/L to 20mg/L. The proposed change to be adopted by the end of the year.