Pigment can also be called color scale. It is an index standard that expresses the brightness of the display screen, which is what we call the color index. The color richness and fineness of the display are determined by the color gradation. The industry standards include 256 colors, 4096 colors, and 65536 colors. The color gradation of color screen mobile phones increases based on 16 times.
Hazards of pigments:
Pigments make food more attractive
Many natural foods have their own color, which can stimulate people's appetite and increase digestive juices secretion, thus facilitating digestion and absorption, and is an important sensory indicator of food. However, natural foods are prone to fading or discoloration during processing and preservation. In order to improve the color of the food, people often add food colorings during the processing of food to improve the sensory properties.
Adding pigments to food is not a patent of modern people. In fact, in ancient my country, people knew that red yeast pigments were used to make red wine. Since the Englishman Parkin synthesized the first artificial pigment, aniline violet, in 1856, synthetic pigments have also come on the scene, playing a role in improving the color of food.
There are two types of commonly used food pigments: natural pigments and artificial synthetic pigments. Natural pigments come from natural products, mainly extracted from plant tissues, but also include some pigments from animals and microorganisms. Artificial synthetic pigments refer to organic pigments obtained by artificial chemical synthesis methods, mainly made from aniline dyes separated from coal tar.
For a long time, because people did not realize the dangers of synthetic pigments, and compared with natural pigments, synthetic pigments have the advantages of bright colors, strong tinting power, stable properties and low prices. Synthetic colors are commonly used in the food processing industry in many countries.
Some synthetic pigments cause cancer
With the development of society and the improvement of people’s living standards, more and more people are concerned about whether the use of synthetic pigments in food will be harmful to human health. Caused harm raised questions. At the same time, a large number of research reports point out that almost all synthetic pigments cannot provide nutrients to the human body, and some synthetic pigments can even harm human health.
The former Soviet Union conducted long-term animal experiments on amaranth, a food pigment, from 1968 to 1970, and found that the carcinogenic rate was as high as 22%. After conducting relevant studies, scientific researchers from the United States, Britain and other countries also found that not only amaranth, but also many other synthetic pigments have harmful effects on the human body, which may lead to reduced fertility, fetal abnormalities, etc. Some pigments are harmful to the human body. May be converted into carcinogens in the body. Scientific researchers said that synthetic pigments are made from coal tar, commonly known as coal tar pigments or aniline pigments, and are harmful to the human body. Hazards include general toxicity, purgative properties, mutagenicity (gene mutations) and carcinogenic effects.
In particular, the carcinogenic effect of azo compound synthetic pigments is more obvious. Azo compounds are decomposed in the body and can form a variety of aromatic amine compounds. Aromatic amines interact with target cells after metabolic activities in the body and may cause cancer. In addition, many synthetic edible pigments are toxic themselves or their metabolites, and arsenic and lead may be mixed with them during the production process. Butter yellow, which was used to color margarine in the past, has long been proven to cause liver cancer in humans and animals, while other types of synthetic pigments such as orange can cause subcutaneous sarcoma, liver cancer, intestinal cancer and malignant lymphoma.
Attitudes of various countries towards synthetic pigments
Countries around the world, especially Western developed countries, have not only done a lot of investigations and research on the impact of pigments on human health, but also in the management and synthesis of food pigments. There are strict regulations on the use of pigments, and many synthetic pigments have been banned or strictly limited in use.
In Denmark, researchers suggest that instead of banning the addition of colorings to food, the type of added coloring should be indicated on food labels. In this way, consumers can make purchase decisions about food products. In addition, the Danish government has decided to ban the use of colorings in basic foods and require all added colorings to be declared on food labels. Denmark takes this action to ensure that people who are allergic to certain dyes eat basic foods without dyes.
Other countries have more stringent restrictions on the use of certain pigments, especially azo pigments, in food. After years of hard work, the variety of edible synthetic colors that can now be legally used has been greatly reduced. When countries around the world used the most synthetic dyes, there were more than 100 varieties. Japan had approved 27 synthetic dyes for use, but 16 of them have now been banned. There were 35 synthetic dyes allowed for use in the United States in 1960, but now only 7 are left. Sweden, Finland, Norway, India, Denmark, France, etc. have already banned the use of azo pigments, and some countries such as Norway have completely banned the use of any chemically synthesized pigments. In addition, some countries have banned the addition of synthetic pigments to meat, fish and processed products, fruits and their products, condiments, baby food, pastries and other foods.
my country restricts the use of synthetic pigments
my country also has strict restrictions on the addition of synthetic pigments to food: all meat and its processed products, fish and its processed products, vinegar, soy sauce , fermented bean curd and other condiments, fruits and their products, milk and dairy products, baby food, biscuits, and pastries cannot use artificial colors. Only soft drinks, cold drinks, candies, prepared wines and juices can be used in small amounts, generally not exceeding 1/10000.
There are currently 6 varieties of edible synthetic pigments approved for use in my country, namely amaranth, carmine, lemon yellow, sunset yellow, indigo and brilliant blue. Although there is still no conclusion on the harmfulness of these six kinds of edible synthetic pigments, they have no nutritional value and are not helpful to human health. If possible, try not to eat them.
In fact, driven by huge economic interests, the use of synthetic pigments in food beyond the standard and beyond the scope of our country has been repeatedly banned. Everyone must be careful when buying food and not pursue the color of the food too much.
The harm of pigments in cosmetics cannot be ignored
Synthetic pigments are not only widely used in the food industry, but also have their shadow in the cosmetics industry.
Cosmetics have become a necessity to add fragrance and beauty in people's daily lives. However, some substances in cosmetics often cause certain damage to the health of beauty lovers, including pigments.
Cosmetics are daily chemical industrial products that contain a variety of chemical substances. According to statistics, there are currently more than 7,000 chemical substances used as raw materials for cosmetics in the world, which are combined into various cosmetics in different proportions, and most cosmetics contain pigments.
According to statistics, the most dangerous cosmetic raw materials that cause skin dysfunction are spices, followed by pigments and preservatives and fungicides. They are called the "three evils" of cosmetics. The proportion of damage caused by spices was 50.6%, pigments accounted for 43.9%, and antiseptic fungicides accounted for 4.9%.
In recent years, skin diseases caused by pigments have increased dramatically and have become a major research topic for experts in the medical, beauty and cosmetic fields, so much so that they gave this new skin disease a name. It’s called “cosmetic disease.”
Some researchers pointed out that there is a certain relationship between the pigments in cosmetics and the pigmentation of human skin. Pigmentation is the appearance of brown spots on normal skin, which seriously affects the image and goes against the purpose of using cosmetics. Researchers said that the pigments contained in cosmetics are also tar derivatives, and long-term use will cause sensitivity to light, leading to pigmentation. Pigmentation caused by cosmetics is often accompanied by inflammatory phenomena such as skin flushing and papules.
Lipstick is one of the most commonly used cosmetics. Because it is applied to the lips, it can easily slip into the body while eating. Generally speaking, swallowing a small amount of lipstick is unlikely to cause harm to the body. However, lipstick contains pigments, which may accumulate after long-term use and cause potential harm to the body.
Pigments are also one of the important reasons why people are allergic to cosmetics. It often causes allergic symptoms such as burning, itching, exfoliation, and mild pain.
Natural pigments are replacing synthetic pigments
Corresponding to people’s increasing understanding of the dangers of synthetic pigments, natural pigments are receiving more and more attention.
Different from synthetic pigments, edible natural pigments are not only non-toxic, but some also have certain nutrients and even certain pharmacological effects. At present, developing natural pigments and using natural pigments to replace artificial pigments has become a development trend in the food and cosmetics industries.
According to reports, there are 97 kinds of natural pigments allowed to be used in Japan, accounting for 90% of the market share. There are also 48 kinds of natural pigments allowed to be used in our country.
However, due to the complex composition of natural pigments, the structure may change during processing, or impurities may be mixed in, so we cannot blindly assume that it is absolutely pure and harmless. However, one thing that should be affirmed is that modern production, management, analytical testing, process improvement and other measures can reduce the adverse effects of synthetic pigments and natural pigments to a level that is safe for use. As long as the use of synthetic and natural pigments is strictly implemented in accordance with national regulations, the pigments will bring joy and pleasure to people, and our world will become more beautiful. ▲
People like to add pigments to food to make the color more attractive.
Children should be careful when eating foods with synthetic pigments
A large number of research reports point out that almost all synthetic pigments cannot provide nutrients to the human body, and some synthetic pigments can even harm human health. It can lead to decreased fertility, fetal abnormalities, etc. Some pigments may be converted into carcinogens in the human body. Scientific researchers said that synthetic pigments are made from coal tar, commonly known as coal tar pigments or aniline pigments, and are harmful to the human body. Hazards include general toxicity, purgative properties, mutagenicity (gene mutations) and carcinogenic effects. Research results show that children who often consume foods with artificial additives are likely to cause the following hazards.
1. Cause children to behave excessively.
People generally feel that today’s children are becoming more willful, naughty, rebellious, emotionally unstable, bad-tempered, have poor self-control, and are becoming more and more difficult to control. This is related to overeating those foods that teenagers and children prefer. Synthetic pigments in attractive colorful snacks. The latest scientific investigation and research proves that "child ADHD" and children's excessive behavior are related to long-term excessive consumption of foods containing synthetic pigments. Relevant experts have pointed out that: children are in the growth and development period, the internal organ functions are relatively fragile, the nervous system is not yet fully developed, and they are sensitive to chemical substances. If they eat foods containing synthetic pigments for too long and too long, it will affect the impulse transmission of the nervous system. Stimulates the brain nerves and causes symptoms such as restlessness, emotional instability, inattention, poor self-control, rebellious thoughts, and excessive behavior.
2. Eating artificial dyes will affect children’s intellectual development.
At the request of the British Food Standards Agency, the University of Southampton in the UK conducted a study on the impact of artificial colorings on children's development. The results of the study found that 7 artificial colorings, including tartrazine and sunset yellow, may cause Children's IQ dropped by 5 points.
3. Because children’s liver detoxification function and kidney excretion function are not perfect enough, eating synthetic pigments will consume a large amount of detoxification substances in the body and interfere with the normal metabolic functions of the body, resulting in diarrhea, abdominal distension, abdominal pain, malnutrition and multiple diseases. Allergies, such as rash, urticaria, asthma, rhinitis, etc.
my country also has strict restrictions on the addition of synthetic pigments to food: meat and its processed products, fish and its processed products, vinegar, soy sauce, fermented bean curd and other condiments, fruits and their products, milk Artificial colors cannot be used in food, dairy products, baby food, biscuits, and pastries. Only soft drinks, cold drinks, candies, prepared wines and juices can be used in small amounts, generally not exceeding 1/10000.
In fact, driven by huge economic interests, the use of synthetic pigments in food beyond the standard and beyond the scope of our country has been repeatedly banned. Everyone must be careful when buying food and not pursue the color of the food too much. Synthetic pigments have no nutritional value and are not beneficial to human health. If possible, try not to eat them, especially children, who should eat them with caution.