Food colours
(Last updated December 2011)
Food colours come from either natural or chemical sources.
Like all food additives, colours must undergo a safety assessment by FSANZ before they can be used in food or drinks sold in Australia or New Zealand. This process sets a safety limit for food additives to ensure no one would eat an unsafe level, even if they ate a large amount of foods containing the colour over a lifetime.
The food colours currently approved have been used safely for decades and FSANZ reviews all new evidence about the safety of food colours.
Food intolerance
Some people notice a reaction to either natural or synthetic additives. Reported reactions include rashes, irritable bowel symptoms, headaches, and behavioural changes in children.
If you think you or your child has a food intolerance seek advice from a doctor or accredited practicing dietitian who can tell you which additive to avoid, if any. To help you avoid additives, all additives in a food or drink must be labelled with either the name or the specific internationally recognised code number of the additive.
Southampton study
In 2007, researchers at the University of Southampton looked at possible effects of artificial food colours on children’s behaviour.
Like other food agencies around the world, FSANZ looked at this study and did not find evidence that would result in a lowering of safety limits for these colours.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published opinions on six food colours in November 2009, and a further seven food colours in 2010. EFSA concluded that the available evidence did not indicate a causal link between exposure to the colours, including those in the Southampton Study, and possible effects on behaviour.
However the European Union has required some colours to have the warning statement: 'may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children'.
In March 2011 a committee of the US Food and Drug Administration reviewed whether available scientific data supported a causal link between eating food colours and hyperactivity. The committee found that current data (including the Southampton study) did not support a link.
How many food colours do we consume?
In 2006 FSANZ undertook a study of added colours. The study found that Australian food manufacturers use these colours at much lower levels than those used in the UK study. For example, the UK study assumed a concentration of 67 mg/kg of the colour tartrazine in confectionery, whereas the average concentration of tartrazine found in confectionery in the FSANZ survey was only 10 mg/kg.
Most of the added colours were found in non-staple foods like cakes, muffins and pastries, soft drinks, ice cream, cordial, flavoured milk, flavoured soy beverages and confectionary.
We also know from dietary exposure assessments that Australian children are consuming food colours at much lower levels than the amounts used in the UK Southampton study. For example, on average, 6 to 12 year olds in Australia are consuming the food colour tartrazine at 14% of the amount used for 8 to 9 year olds in the UK study, and are consuming the colour sunset yellow at 21% and 8% of the amounts used in the UK study (in the two mixes).