RedFoodDyeInWater.jpg
Photo by Yu-Jun, Flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Shocker!
Scientists have just discovered that chronic exposure to red food dye may lead to inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s and colitis.
To be clear – the study was conducted in mice. I know lots of people will be tempted to put on their blinders and say there’s no proof this is true in humans (fact), but…
This is the usual progression of science. We learn mechanisms in the lab and in animal studies and then only through longer and more involved studies figure out what really happens in living and breathing humans. Red food dye (Allura red or FD&C Red 40) is a common food additive in everything from breakfast cereal to beverages to chips.
It’s especially common in foods marketed to kids.
This latest study (in Nature Communications 2022)1 found that chronic exposure to red food dye:
- Disrupted gut function in mice, leading to changes consistent with colitis.
- Triggered changes in the gut that included increased production of serotonin and increased intestinal permeability (leaky gut).
- Primed mice for an increased risk of colitis especially when exposed early in life.
So here’s the question I put to you: Is it worth the risk? One can decide and when given the option to eat or not to eat… you can decide.
Reference
- Kwon YH, Banskota S, Wang H, et al. Chronic exposure to synthetic food colorant Allura Red AC promotes susceptibility to experimental colitis via intestinal serotonin in mice. Nat Commun. 2022;13(1):7617.
Revised by Joanne Quinn, PhD; content provided by Wellnesswriter.com
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