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Type, extent and use of colours in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods

prepared in the non-industrial sector – a case study

from Hyderabad, India

Padmaja R. Jonnalagadda,1* Pratima Rao,2 Ramesh V. Bhat2 & A. Nadamuni Naidu2

1 Food and Drug Toxicology Research Centre, National Institute of Nutrition, Jamai-Osmania (PO), Hyderabad 500 007,

AP, India

2 National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, AP, India

(Received 28 September 2001; Accepted in revised form 28 April 2003)

Summary The type and extent of colours added to ready-to-eat (RTE) foods prepared in the non-

industrial sector of India was investigated. Of the 545 RTE foods analysed, 90% contained

permitted colours, 2% contained a combination of permitted and non-permitted colours

and 8% contained only non-permitted colours. However in RTE foods with permitted

colours, 73% exceeded 100 ppm, as prescribed by the Prevention of Food Adulteration

Act of India, and 27% were within the prescribed levels. Among the permitted colours,

tartrazine was the most widely used colour followed by sunset yellow. The maximum

concentration of colours was detected in sweet meats (18 767 ppm), non-alcoholic

beverages (9450 ppm), miscellaneous foods (6106 ppm) and hard-boiled sugar confection-

eries (3811 ppm). Among the non-permitted colours found, rhodamine was most

commonly used. Some of the foods, such as savouries and miscellaneous foods like sugar

coated aniseed and almond milk, are not supposed to contain colours as per the Prevention

of Food Adulteration Act, but were found to contain colours.

Keywords Colourants, food regulations, orange G, rhodamine, sunset yellow, tartrazine.

Introduction

In India, like most developing countries, both the

industrial and non-industrial sectors are engaged in

food processing activities. The industrial sector is

subjected to quality checks whereas the non-

industrial sector, by its very nature, is outside the

realm of quality checks and statutory controls.

Rapid urbanization has meant that the associated

sociological change is impacting on the life-style of

a large segment of the population. This is resulting

in enhanced demand for pre-packaged and pre-

cooked ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. The annual

production of RTE foods in the industrial sector

of India is 345 411 tonnes (Anon., 1995). However,

RTE foods produced in the non-industrial sector,

including bakery products like bread, biscuits,

rusks, cakes, and other RTE foods such as potato

chips, are two to three times that produced in the

industrial sector (Agarwal, 1990, 1994; Alagh,

1990; Chowdhry, 1990; Sharma & Sharma, 1994).

It has been suggested that the consumption of such

foods could sometimes lead to harmful effects

(NIN, 1994, annual report). Colour additives are

known to be one of the causes of such harmful

effects. The variety of synthetic colours, developed

in the middle of the nineteenth century, are a

reliable and economical method of partly restoring

the original shade of the foods (that would

otherwise be virtually dull) and also act as a

competitive substitute to the natural colourants

which are more expensive, less stable, and possess

lower tinctorial power (Achaya, 1984; Rao, 1990).

The use of synthetic colours by the food processing

industry is increasing because they are considered

as important adjuncts.

The use of permitted and non-permitted colours

in foods in India has been reported previously*Correspondent: Fax: 91 40 27019074;

e-mail: [email protected]

International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2004, 39, 125–131 125

� 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

(Khanna et al., 1973, 1985, 1986; Chakravarti,

1988; Biswas et al., 1994; Babu & Shenolikar,

1995; Dixit et al., 1995; Singh, 1997; Bhat &

Mathur, 1998; Mathur, 2000), as has the fact that

the use of non-permitted colours are known to

cause adverse effects in experimental animals

(Prasad & Rastogi, 1982; Wess & Archer, 1982;

Singh et al., 1987) and in humans (Power et al.,

1969; Chandra & Nagaraja, 1987; Sachadeva

et al., 1992). Subsequently, the use of non-permit-

ted colours in RTE foods and other items of daily

consumption have been subjected to regulatory

scrutiny involving the judiciary (Sinha, 1988).

Repeated exposure to even the permitted synthetic

colours is hazardous (Lockey, 1977; Achaya,

1984). The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) has

been defined as the amount of a substance that can

be consumed everyday throughout the lifetime of

an individual without any appreciable health

effects (JECFA, 1996). The ADI of erythrosine

was reduced from 2.5 to 0.1 mg kg)1 body-weight,

as it produced effects on thyroid function in short-

term studies in rats (Larsen, 1991). It has also been

reported that the consumption of a particular

brand of aniseed (saunf), having very high levels of

ponceau 4R, produced symptoms of glossitis of

the tongue in children (NIN, 1994, annual report).

Based on toxicological evaluation of synthetic

food colours the Central Committee for Food

standards (CCFS, India) has been constantly

updating the food regulations. As a part of these

regulations, certain colours such as amaranth and

Fast red E were banned and the reduction of the

synthetic food colour limit from 200 to 100 ppm in

all foods except in canned foods, jams and jellies

has been recommended. Different countries permit

different synthetic food colours. The USA permits

seven, including Fast red (which is prohibited for

use in India), Iran and Australia, thirteen each and

in the European Union (EU) sixteen synthetic

permitted food colours are permitted. European

countries have been harmonizing the regulations,

and most of the controls on colourings in food

stem from EU directives. Each country is attempt-

ing to review these controls by surveillance work.

India permits addition of eight colours, viz.

erythrosine, carmoisine, ponceau 4R, tartrazine,

sunset yellow, brilliant blue FCF, Fast green FCF,

and indigo carmine up to specified food items. In

India, the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA)

Act, which lays down specifications on the addi-

tion of additives to foods, was amended in 1995

(Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1995) and

permitted the use of the above-mentioned syn-

thetic food colours in or upon food items

(Table 1).

Data on permitted synthetic food colours and

the levels to which they can be used, was used to

study, within the outlets of Hyderabad city, the

variety of RTE foods sold, the RTE foods with

added colours and the quality, quantity and extent

of use of colours in RTE foods produced by the

non-industrial sector.

Materials and methods

A total of 145 outlets, viz. supermarkets (twenty-

three), sweetmeat stalls (forty-five), wholesale

markets (fifteen), retail outlets selling only confec-

tioneries and other coloured RTE foods such as

deep-fried snack foods, fun foods for children like

sugar toys, coloured synthetic powders, etc. (ten),

bakeries (twenty-one), fast food centres (six) and

small vendors (twenty-five) were surveyed to find

out the type and extent of RTE foods sold in the

city of Hyderabad, using a pre-tested pro forma. A

total of 545 samples of coloured food items were

purchased from the 145 outlets mentioned above.

Extraction of synthetic dyes from coloured

RTE foods

Five to ten grams of the coloured food was ground

thoroughly and colours extracted using three

Table 1 Permitted synthetic food colours can be used in the

following foods as per the PFA Act

Food items

1. Ice-cream, milk lollies, frozen dessert, flavoured milk,

yoghurt, ice- cream mix powder

2. Non-alcoholic carbonated and non-carbonated

ready-to-serve synthetic beverages including syrups,

sherbets, fruit bar, fruit beverages, fruit drinks, synthetic

soft drink concentrates

3. Biscuits, including biscuit wafer, pastries, cakes,

confectionery, thread candies, sweets, savouries

(dal moth, mongia, phul gulab, sago papad, dal biji)

4. Peas, strawberries and cherries in hermatically sealed

containers, preserved or processed papaya, canned tomato

juice, fruit syrup, fruit squash, fruit cordial, jellies, jam,

marmalade, candied crystallised or glazed fruits

Usage of colours in RTE foods P. R. Jonnalagadda et al.126

International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2004 39, 125–131 � 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

different methods. Mostly the samples were

extracted to identify colours by using a column

chromatography method and wool dyeing meth-

ods (Toteja et al., 1990). For certain categories of

RTE foods such as sweetmeats, bakery foods and

confectioneries, a modified method suggested by

Biswas et al. (1994) was used. The extracted

coloured solutions were spotted onto Whatman

no. 1 chromatography paper strips together with

authentic standard colours. The samples were

separated for colours using different solvent sys-

tems. The standard colours supplied by Bush

Boak and Allen (Chennai, India) and S.D. Fine

Chemicals Ltd (Mumbai, India) were subjected to

purity checks (Walford, 1984).

Qualitative analysis was performed by compar-

ing the relative factor, i.e. ratio between the

distance moved by the spot of the food colour

and the distance moved by the solvent front of the

separated colours with those of standard colours,

which were prepared in water (1 mg mL)1). The

quantitative analysis of the single colours in water

solutions was done directly by measuring the

absorbance values. Blends of colours were separ-

ated by paper chromatography and the separated

colours were then eluted from paper into water

and their absorbance was measured against stand-

ard colours using a Perkin Elmer spectrophotom-

eter (Lambda-1: C632-000; Perkin Elmer,

Norwalk, CT, USA). The values were tabulated

and calculated to express the quantity of colour in

micrograms per gram (lg mL)1 in the case of

liquid samples) of the preparation (Ranganna,

1986).

Results

A variety of RTE food products with added

colours sold in the city of Hyderabad is given in

Table 2. Most of the RTE foods sold in the

market were coloured and it is difficult to find an

RTE food without any colour. Some of the RTE

non-vegetarian preparations, like chicken 65,

chicken manchuria and chicken gravy, were also

found to be coloured. Of the 545 coloured RTE

foods analysed, 32% were sweetmeats, 40% were

Table 2 Variety of RTE foods with added colours sold in the city of Hyderabad

Food Groups Food items

Bakery items Biscuits (both plain cream), wafers, rusks, cakes (sponge plum and fruit),

bread, buns, and pastries in different flavours

Hard-boiled sugar

confectioneries

Lollypops in various forms like cherries, raspberries, grapes, apples, etc.;

mints, golis, gems, toffees, sugar toys in various forms of birds, candies,

fruit bars, mouth fresheners like peppermints; fun foods like chewing gums,

bubble gums, syrupy balls, confectioneries in the shape of oil seeds such as

groundnut with some gifts like rings, etc.

Sweetmeats Bengal gram pulse flour preparations like laddus, Mysorepaks. Black gram pulse

flour preparations like jangris. Preparations with refined wheat flour:

jilebis, khajoor. Milk-based preparations: burfies and pedas, milk product-based

preparations: rasagolla, chum chum, gulabjamoon, basundi. Sweets made in the

shape of beetel leaf, cereal-based preparations like wheat halwas, halwas made

of vegetables such as pumpkin, carrot, with ghee and sugar, puffed rice

and flaked rice preparations such as laddus.

Savouries Rice flour and bengal gram pulse-based preparations such as murukus*.

Refined wheat flour preparations such as chekodi*. Bengal gram flour

preparations such as sev*, bujiya, boondi*. Fried pulses such as bengal gram

and green gram pulses.

Non-alcoholic beverages Non-carbonated and carbonated synthetic syrups, sherbets, juices, synthetic

soft drink concentrates, badam (almond) milk*, lassi* (buttermilk, yoghurt)

Miscellaneous foods Synthetic* coloured powders in different tastes like mango (aamchuran),

katmit powder, sugar* coated coloured saunf (aniseed), coconut gratings,

crushed ice, fresh green peas, soups, sauces, chicken 65, chicken manchuria,

chicken gravy, fried groundnuts*, biryani (a rice preparation), ice candies,

ice creams. Cherries, crystallized or glazed fruits such as tuiti frooti.

*Foods which are not supposed to contain added colours as per the PFA Act.

Usage of colours in RTE foods P. R. Jonnalagadda et al. 127

� 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2004, 39, 125–131

hard-boiled sugar confectioneries, 21% were

miscellaneous foods and 7% were non-alcoholic

beverages. Among the 545 coloured RTE foods

analysed, 90% were found to contain permitted

colours, while 8% contained non-permitted col-

ours, and 2% contained a combination of

permitted and non-permitted colours. Forty-five

RTE foods had non-permitted colours and 11

had a combination of permitted and non-per-

mitted colours. These include seven sweetmeats,

thirty-six hard-boiled sugar confectioneries and

thirteen miscellaneous foods. Non-permitted col-

ours were absent in all the non-alcoholic bever-

ages. The permitted and non-permitted colours

are listed in Table 3. Of the 90% of the

permitted coloured RTE foods analysed, 54%

contained tartrazine (in blend with brilliant blue

FCF), 31% had sunset yellow (in blend with

carmosine, ponceau 4R, and tartrazine), 19%

had brilliant blue FCF, 10% had carmosine, 8%

had ponceau 4R and 3% had erythrosine. The

distribution of the permitted colours in the

various food groups is given in Table 4. It was

observed that tartrazine and sunset yellow were

the most common permitted colours used. The

overall pattern of the frequency of the permitted

colours in a variety of coloured RTE foods

indicated that tartrazine in blend with brilliant

blue FCF is the most widely used colour,

followed by sunset yellow (in blend with carm-

osine, ponceau 4R, and erythrosine), carmosine,

ponceau 4R, brilliant blue FCF (in blend with

tartrazine) and erythrosine. There seemed to be

slight variations in the frequency of the colours

when the individual food categories are consid-

ered. It was tartrazine followed by sunset yellow,

brilliant blue FCF, carmosine, and ponceau 4R

in sweetmeats, hard-boiled sugar confectioneries,

bakery foods and miscellaneous foods, while in

non-alcoholic beverages it was tartrazine fol-

lowed by sunset yellow, carmosine, ponceau 4R,

brilliant blue FCF and erythrosine. The use of

erythrosine was totally absent in sweetmeats and

miscellaneous foods, and the green colours

Indigo carmine and Fast green FCF, were not

detected in any of the coloured RTE foods

analysed in the present study (Table 4). Of the

90% of the RTE foods having permitted colours,

73% were found to exceed the 100 ppm level

prescribed by PFA, while only 27% were well

within the prescribed levels. The individual status

of each permitted colour within and above the

prescribed levels are given in Table 5. It was

observed that the limit was exceeded most for

ponceau 4R, followed by sunset yellow, tatra-

zine, carmoisine, erythrosine and brilliant blue

FCF. Ten per cent of the non-permitted colours

(including the 2% blended with permitted col-

ours) present in the coloured RTE foods were

rhodamine, orange G, amaranth, Fast red and

metanil yellow. The distribution of non-permit-

ted colours in coloured RTE foods indicated that

rhodamine followed by orange G, Fast red,

amaranth and metanil yellow are the colours

used. The pattern of distribution varied when the

individual food categories are reported (Table 6).

Table 3 List of permitted and non-permitted food colours

Permitted colours Non-permitted colours

Tartrazine Rhodamine

Sunset yellow FCF Orange G

Ponceau 4R Amaranth

Carmoisine Fast red

Erythrosine Metanil yellow

Brilliant blue FCF

Table 4 Distribution of permitted

food colours in RTE foods (%)Permitted colours Sweetmeats

Hard-boiled sugar

confectioneries

Miscellaneous

foods

Non-alcoholic

beverages

Tartrazine 63.4 48.4 52.7 53.8

Sunset yellow 33.7 27.9 28.6 48.7

Ponceau 4R 5.1 6.8 11.6 15.4

Carmosine 6.3 11.0 9.8 20.5

Erythrosine Nil 5.9 Nil 2.6

Brilliant blue FCF 16.0 21.0 22.3 12.8

The total percentage for each food category is more than 100 because some foods had

combinations of two colours.



Discussion

The present study shows permitted colours were

used in the majority of the RTE foods. However,

the quantities of the colours detected ranged

from 101 to 18 767 ppm (higher or much higher

than the level of 100 ppm prescribed by Preven-

tion of Food Adulteration Act, 1995). Biswas

et al. (1994) reported the use of permitted colours

in RTE foods exceeding the then permissible level

of 200 ppm, upto a maximum of 730 ppm. In the

present study, the highest concentrations were

found in sweetmeats (18 767 ppm), non-alcoholic

beverages (9450 ppm), miscellaneous foods

(6106 ppm) and hard-boiled sugar confectioneries

(3811 ppm).

Reports on earlier studies showed that non-

permitted colours were used in wide range of RTE

foods (Khanna et al., 1973, 1985, 1986, 1987;

Chakravarti, 1988; Biswas et al., 1994; Dixit et al.,

1995). In contrast, in the present study, the use of

non-permitted colours was found to be consider-

ably less than previously as it was detected in only

10% of the RTE foods. This could be due to the

awareness of the manufacturers to the hazards of

non-permitted colours but could also be because

of the stringent action taken by the regulatory

authorities.

It was also observed in the present study that

the RTE foods shown in Table 2, although not

supposed to contain any added colours as per the

PFA Act, contained colours. Although the PFA

Act was amended in 1995 and the use of colours

restricted to specific items like biscuits, thread

candies, sweets, dalmoth, fruit juice, ice cream, etc.

a variety of RTE foods still contained synthetic

food colours (Table 2), thereby implying that the

implementation of food regulations needs to be

much more vigorous.

It was interesting to note that although the

Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (1995)

permits eight colours to be added to specific

foods, only six colours were used, i.e. tartrazine,

sunset yellow (either individual or in blend with

other permitted colours such as carmosine, ponc-

eau 4R, erythrosine and brilliant blue FCF),

carmosine, ponceau 4R, erythrosine and brilliant

blue FCF. However, brilliant blue FCF was

mostly used in blends with tartrazine to give a

green shade to food items such as fresh green peas,

fried green peas, milk-based sweetmeat prepara-

tions, bakery foods like pastries and cakes, ice

cream, ice candies and synthetic syrups, etc. The

use of individual green colours such as Fast green

FCF and Indigo carmine were not found in any of

the coloured RTE foods in the present study.

Of the six permitted colours analysed, in the

present study, tartrazine and sunset yellow (either

in blend or individual with other permitted syn-

thetic colours) seem to be the most popular and

often used. Similar observations were made by

Khanna et al., 1973, 1985, 1986; Chakravarti,

1988; Biswas et al., 1994; Dixit et al., 1995;

Mathur, 2000). The overall pattern of usage of

colours, in the present study, indicates that, of the

six synthetic permitted colours found to be used,

there was less common usage than expected.

Hence, there is a pressing need to revise the number

of permitted synthetic colours to be added to foods.

The predominant use of the two colours mentioned

previously could be attributed to the traditional

practice of the manufacturers to try to match the

colour of the basic raw materials such as bengal

gram dhal preparations, or as a substitute to the

natural colours like turmeric, or to attain yellow

colour in foods with added pineapple flavour, and

Table 5 Number of RTE foods (expressed as percentage)

having colours below and above permissible levels

Permitted colours <100 ppm >100 ppm

Tartrazine 31.5 68.5

Sunset yellow 28.5 71.5

Ponceau 4R 23.3 76.7

Carmosine 37.0 63.0

Erythrosine 53.3 46.7

Brilliant blue FCF 64.8 35.2

Table 6 Distribution of non-permitted food colours in a

variety of coloured RTE foods (%)

Non-permitted

colours Sweetmeats

Hard-boiled

sugar

confectioneries

Miscellaneous

foods

Rhodamine Nil 36.1 30.7

Amaranth 14.3 25.0 15.4

Orange G 85.7 22.2 Nil

Fast red Nil 36.1 38.5

Metanil yellow Nil 13.9 15.4

The total percentage for hard-boiled sugar confectioneries is

more than 100 as they are combinations of permitted colours.



for orange to substitute the natural colours like

saffron (Achaya, 1994). The use of non-permitted

colours was found to be more in hard-boiled sugar

confectioneries, bakery foods and miscellaneous

foods than in the rest of the food groups.

It can be concluded from the present investi-

gation that although the prevalent use of non-

permitted colours has been considerably reduced,

the level or concentration of synthetic permitted

colours was noticeably higher than the specifica-

tions prescribed under the PFA Act. A closer

vigilance and stricter enforcement is necessary.

Also, a better awareness is necessary for enhan-

cing the quality of coloured RTE foods prepared

in the non-industrial sector on the part of the

State food health authorities. In addition, a

relentless campaign needs to be undertaken to

improve the awareness amongst consumers of the

unscrupulous use of synthetic food colours,

particularly concerning vulnerable consumers

such as children.

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr Kamala Krishnaswamy, Director,

National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), for the keen

interest shown by her in the study. The financial

support provided by the Council of Scientific and

Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India (for

the Senior author, PRJ), and also the Ministry of

Food Processing, New Delhi (for the second

author, PR), is gratefully acknowledged.

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