Does Food Coloring Expire? Junk food coloring is an everyday tool in the culinary work. Used in cake and cupcake frosting as well as giving an aesthetic appeal to confectionaries, biscuits, and other baked products, food coloring is an indispensably vital component in the production of appealing, delicious confectionery. Another important factor to emphasize, while using the food coloring is, how long it keeps and or does food coloring have an expiry date? In this article, we shall discuss some of the factors that affect the shelf-life of the food coloring products that are in the market today, the effect of expiration date among other considerations.
Compositions of Food Coloring: a Brief Overview:
It refers to a group of artificially synthesized chemical compounds added to the food and its derivatives with the intention of increasing the visual appeal of the particular product.
It consists of synthetic types of colors like Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1 and Blue 2 etc. Other organic food colors are plant and insect based such as beet juice, turmeric, carmine etc.
The composition of synthesized product can vary in its complexity within the type of food additive and can vary between manufactures of food coloring.
Constituent affecting the shelf life of food coloring:
Also, the stability of any food color depends on what’s what ingredients they are engineered with as well as how it’s packaged and stored.
You know, as a little kid, I was always fascinated by beautiful, bright-colored candies and foods, and I thought they were made of some kind of special ingredients. But little did I know that it’s just food color. Sure, artificial food colors make your food look appealing, but are they safe, and should you consume them? Well, stick around till the end of this video, and you’ll find out whether these food colors are harmless or harmful.
The Concerns Surrounding Artificial Food Colors
Hey guys, this is your pharmacist Sidra, and welcome to Ask Your Pharmacist, where I talk about everything health, pharmacy, and beauty. So, if that interests you, stick around and subscribe for more. Today’s video, I think, is very important, especially if you have kids, nieces, or nephews, or if you’re just concerned about what goes into your mouth and whether it’s healthy or not. Yes, food colors do make your food look aesthetically pleasing, but at the cost of your health.
The Impact on Children’s Behavior
Do you notice that your kid gets hyper after eating a cookie coated with bright green frosting or that bright red candy? Well, yes, it’s natural to assume that sugar is the culprit here, but research suggests that some of the blame goes to the artificial food dyes as well.
The Origins of Artificial Food Dyes
You know, there are so many artificial food dyes like Red Number Three, Red Number 40, Blue Number One, and many others. What I’m trying to say here is that all synthetic dyes are basically the same and are made out of petroleum. Yes, you heard me right – the same petroleum that fuels our vehicles is being used to make these artificial food dyes. Unfortunately, 15 million pounds of food dyes are used just in the United States.
Prevalence of Artificial Food Dyes in Common Foods
You know, it’s present in your packaged lemonade, fruit rolls, bakery goods, and even in your yogurt. Can you imagine that? Apparently, yogurt is supposed to be healthy. You know, and the crazy thing is that these food manufacturers tell us right on the ingredient label that artificial food coloring or artificial flavoring has been added. Yet, most consumers don’t seem to be worried about it because a lot of people don’t really know what these artificial flavors and dyes are made of and how they’re actually harming our health.
The Health Risks Associated with Artificial Food Colors
You know, I imagine it’s probably because most of us don’t even know what the health risks of these artificial food colors are. That’s why I made this dedicated video just to discuss the harmful effects of food colors on our health.
Composition: The synthetic food colors are more often more stable and their life span is longer compared to the natural ones.
Packaging: Since food coloring is sensitive to factors like air, moisture or light, it is therefore packaged in a measure that is usually contained in a sealed bottles or pouch.
Storage Conditions: Special storage methods are important to observe to keep the foods coloring on the shelf as long as possible. Since air, moisture and light are the natural occurrence in the environment, the coatings must be made resistant to them to prevent penetrating into the outer surface of the material.
Ideally, foods coloring should be closed properly, protected from air, moisture, and light since these elements can badly affect its quality as well as its function in your food.
Perishability and Product Use-by Dates:
Manufacturers have been barred from placing expired foods coloring on markets without mentioning the expiry date on the packing. This date means that after this there is no guarantee that the product is safe or effective in meeting its intended purpose.
Lack of Nutritional Value
First of all, the food colors have literally no nutritional value. You know, they add no nutrition to your food. They’re basically used just for aesthetic purposes. I mean, I get it – without food colors, your colas wouldn’t be brown, mint ice wouldn’t be green, and red velvet cake wouldn’t be bright red. You know, sounds quite boring, but just think about it – these food colors are made out of petroleum, which is a crude oil and is used to make gasoline and diesel fuel. How does that sound? I’m sure not appetizing and healthy, right?
Cancer-Causing Substances
And you’ll be surprised to know that some of these food colors actually contain cancer-causing substances. Several studies conducted on animals showed that Red Dye III caused thyroid tumors in rats, and Blue Dye may cause brain and bladder tumors in rats. Now, I understand that although these studies are done on animals, unfortunately, that’s why the safety of artificial food colors is very controversial.
Hyperactivity in Children
In fact, in 1973, a pediatric allergist claimed that hyperactivity and learning problems in children were caused by artificial food coloring and preservatives in food. And another clinical study found that removing artificial food dyes from the diet, along with the preservative called sodium benzoate, significantly reduced hyperactive symptoms. You know, although not all children react the same way to food dyes, some seem to be more sensitive than others.
Impact on Liver and Other Vital Organs
Artificial food dyes also have been shown to negatively impact the functioning of the liver and other vital organs. So, I literally think that just for the aesthetic look of the food, I wouldn’t want to risk all that for my children. Because these artificial food dyes are interfering with the digestive enzymes that our bodies produce to help properly break down the food that we eat, and also they increase the intestinal permeability, which is also known as the leaky gut.
Expiration Dates: A Key Aspect of Gentle Practice: In the same manner, the expiration dates indicate to consumers how enough time the food color can be used prior to probable decrease of food product quality and safety.
Determining the Use-By Date: This can involve a variety of mechanisms that range from as early as 12 months to 24 months after the production of the specific product depending on the manufacturer of the specific product.
Preservation of Food Coloring for Effective Functions:
In addition to those, there are also lots of guidelines that should be followed when preparing food color so that the product will have long life and effective.
Temperature & Relative Humidity: Ideally, food foods coloring should be stored in an area with low temperature, low humidity and low heat and sunlight. Some points have to be emphasized about this method: Also make sure to close the food coloring container after every use and washing it regularly.
Avoiding Cross-Contamination: When using or handling foods coloring always ensure that the utensils, containers and work surfaces used are different and not used with other foods. You can contact us here.
Link to Respiratory Disorders
You know, artificial dyes are also linked to respiratory disorders like asthma and bronchitis. They also negatively impact nerve cell development. See, the food dyes are very common; they’re everywhere – in your candies, your frosting, macaroni and cheese, your sports drinks, your breakfast cereal, and even some types of breads also contain food coloring. And the list can literally go on and on.
Minimizing Exposure to Artificial Food Dyes
So, probably you can’t completely avoid the food dyes, but what I recommend is try to minimize them, especially in your kids’ food. And if there is a cancer risk in your family, I would encourage you to be even more vigilant in avoiding artificial dyes.
Strategies for Reducing Artificial Food Dye Consumption
I really recommend four strategies that can really help you limit the use of artificial food dyes.
1. Read the Labels
Shoot for foods that use natural food colorings from fruits and vegetable extracts, like beets, blueberry juice, and beta-carotene, which are really good alternatives to your artificial dyes. Also, children’s medications – think about liquid cough syrups or chewable tablets – they also contain food dyes, so try to look for dye-free medications.
2. Opt for Homemade Foods
You know, when you’re making food at home, you have complete control over what you add in your food and what not, right? You know, just think in a way that if your kid needs to bring dessert to school, then consider chocolate chip cookie or just a sugar cookie that won’t need frosting, and if you have to frost something, then just choose natural food colors.
3. Focus on Whole Foods
Also, you want to focus more on whole foods. Foods that come in packages are processed and almost always contain food dyes, so limit processed foods whenever possible. Go for whole fruit.
4. Educate Your Kids
Lastly, emphasize on healthy eating habits. Avoid giving your kids processed foods for as long as possible, because once your kids get used to eating these processed foods, it’s really hard to get them off it. You know, when you encounter foods with dyes, talk to your kids, educate them about it, tell them why the brightly colored foods may not be the best choice. If your kids go to a party, maybe encourage them to choose apple juice over sports drink or soda, and always model good behavior when you’re around your kids.
Conclusion
Alright, so that’s it for today’s video. Thank you so much for watching. I hope now you will try to limit the artificial food dyes, and please share this video to spread the awareness and help others. And don’t forget to subscribe to stay up to date on new videos on health, pharmacy, and beauty. I’ll see you guys next time. Until then, take care.
Conclusion:
Food coloring is important in itself, because they contain color, and it is also very important in terms of the appearance of these food when being prepared. It needs to be understood that even though food coloring does eventually expire, knowing more about this product’s formation, shelf life, and proper storage can save your pretty and tasty dishes. If you’re getting creative, or if you don’t mind what the end result looks like, then you can focus on the shelf life dates, the storage conditions and the proportions of the food colouring to experiment with the most.
