How many people actually read those warnings? See logo, buy product, consume product. Much like those mandated warnings on tobacco. Guy looks at pack 1 with a warning "May cause cancer", puts it back. Guy looks at pack 2 with a warning "May cause birth defects". Guy decides that's now his brand. (appologies to Bill Hicks)
In the UK we get 'candy' imports that are saturated with azo-dyes, they are not banned, they just have a warning on the packet, yup, a warning on the packet that says 'may cause hyperactivity', when I've drawn other parents attention, either they have never noticed it, or dismiss it as a sugar high, https://hacsg.org.uk/artificial-food-colourings-and-adhd-hyp...
"Azo dyes are used widely as color additives in food, drugs, and cosmetics; hence, there is an increasing concern about their safety and possible health hazards. In the present study, we chose 4 azo dyes tartrazine, Sunset Yellow, amaranth, and Allura red and evaluated their developmental toxicity on zebrafish embryos. At concentration levels of 5 to 50 mM, we found that azo dyes can induce hatching difficulty and developmental abnormalities such as cardiac edema, decreased heart rate, yolk sac edema, and spinal defects including spinal curvature and tail distortion. Exposure to 100 mM of each azo dye was completely embryolethal. The median lethal concentration (LC50), median effective concentration (EC50), and teratogenic index (TI) were calculated for each azo dye at 72 hours postfertilization. For tartrazine, the LC50 was 47.10 mM and EC50 value was at 42.66 mM with TI ratio of 1.10. For Sunset Yellow, the LC50 was 38.93 mM and EC50 value was at 29.81 mM with TI ratio of 1.31. For amaranth, the LC50 was 39.86 mM and EC50 value was at 31.94 mM with TI ratio of 1.25. For Allura red, the LC50 was 47.42 mM and EC50 value was 40.05 mM with TI ratio of 1.18. This study reports the developmental toxicity of azo dyes in zebrafish embryos at concentrations higher than the expected human exposures from consuming food and drugs containing azo dyes."
"Synthetic azo dyes are widely used in industries. Gerhardt Domagk discovered that the antimicrobial effect of red azo dye Prontosil was caused by the reductively cleaved (azo reduction) product sulfanilamide. The significance of azo reduction is thus revealed. Azo reduction can be accomplished by human intestinal microflora, skin microflora, environmental microorganisms, to a lesser extent by human liver azoreductase, and by nonbiological means. Some azo dyes can be carcinogenic without being cleaved into aromatic amines. However, the carcinogenicity of many azo dyes is due to their cleaved product such as benzidine. Benzidine induces various human and animal tumors. Another azo dye component, p-phenylenediamine, is a contact allergen. Many azo dyes and their reductively cleaved products as well as chemically related aromatic amines are reported to affect human health, causing allergies and other human maladies."
"Approximately 0.7 million tons of azo dyes are synthesized each year. Azo dyes are composed of one or more R₁-N=N-R₂ linkages. Studies have shown that both mammalian and microbial azoreductases cleave the azo bonds of the dyes to form compounds that are potentially genotoxic. The human gastrointestinal tract harbors a diverse microbiota comprised of at least several thousand species. Both water-soluble and water-insoluble azo dyes can be reduced by intestinal bacteria. Some of the metabolites produced by intestinal microbiota have been shown to be carcinogenic to humans although the parent azo dyes may not be classified as being carcinogenic. Azoreductase activity is commonly found in intestinal bacteria. Three types of azoreductases have been characterized in bacteria. They are flavin dependent NADH preferred azoreductase, flavin dependent NADPH preferred azoreductase, and flavin free NADPH preferred azoreductase. This review highlights how azo dyes are metabolized by intestinal bacteria, mechanisms of azo reduction, and the potential contribution in the carcinogenesis/mutagenesis of the reduction of the azo dyes by intestinal microbiota."
Okay, so the first study is 5-50 millimolar. And these dyes weigh about 500 grams per mol, so those are about 2.5 to 5 grams per liter. That seems like a very large amount and I'm not sure how relevant this is to normal food use.
The second one talks about allergens, noted though not particularly relevant, and does this have amounts anywhere?
And the third one seems to be mentioning other mechanisms to get the same effects, but is not classifying the actual danger levels based on dose? Interesting but it's not helping me figure out if the additives are safe in small amounts.
Jan-Feb 1982;
'Sulfanilic acid: behavioral change related to azo food dyes in developing rats'
'While our work suggests a significant effect of azo food dyes on the developing rat central nervous system, species differences in parameters such as absorption, metabolism, and blood-brain barrier properties do not permit any extrapolation of these observations to proposed effects in children.'
But now we know the blood-brain barrier imagined in 1982 was not accurate so...
Then from Aug 18, 2021
'The FDA says they’re safe in moderation. But some experts say their guidelines are outdated and need changes to account for the possibility that dyes affect children's brains and behaviour'
The jury is still out, hopefully continuous array's together with fast and high resolution non-invasive brain scans will be able to revisit all this stuff I'd imagine?
With regards the quantity and effect quandary 'Threshold effects can be felt with as little as 25 micrograms of LSD' so who knows.
Finally it's a petrochemical derivative, just mentioning that, here, at the bottom.
"Similar term(s): genotoxicity. Definition: Toxic (damaging) to DNA. Substances that are genotoxic may bind directly to DNA or act indirectly leading to DNA damage by affecting enzymes involved in DNA replication, thereby causing mutations which may or may not lead to cancer or birth defects (inheritable damage)."
