What are the consequences of edible pigment contacting human skin?

Edible pigments and food safety: colorful drinks, exquisite patterns on cream cakes, colorful candy, bean green vermicelli and red and yellow fresh shrimp slices are mostly colorful, which stimulate consumers' desire to buy through beautiful appearance. These brightly colored foods are all made with pigments. After the Sudan Red incident last year, people can't help wondering about the pigment in food-what is pigment? Are they safe to eat? What is food coloring? Edible pigments can be divided into natural pigments and synthetic pigments. Natural pigments are mainly extracted from plant tissues, including some pigments from microorganisms in animals. Synthetic pigments refer to organic pigments made by artificial chemical synthesis. Less than 20% of foods with added pigments use natural pigments, and the rest are synthetic pigments. Natural pigment can promote people's appetite, increase the secretion of digestive juice, and is beneficial to digestion and absorption, and is an important sensory index of food. However, natural pigments are easy to fade or discolor during processing and storage, and the cost of adding natural pigments artificially in food processing is too high, and the dyeing color is not bright enough, and the chemical properties are unstable and easy to fade. In contrast, synthetic pigments have bright colors, good coloring power and low price, so synthetic pigments are widely used in food. Edible pigment is not an illegal additive: the bad influence of Sudan Red incident makes people more suspicious of the pigment with bad reputation, and thinks that all foods with pigment are unsafe, and only those natural foods are safe. In fact, Sudan red is only an industrial dye, not an edible pigment. Many people equate the added pigment in food with Sudan red, which is wrong. Pigment is not an illegal additive, and adding pigment to food is not a patent of modern people. In ancient China, people knew how to brew red wine with monascus pigment. Since Parkin, an Englishman, synthesized the first artificial pigment-aniline violet in 1856, artificial pigment began to enter the stage of food additives, which played a role in improving the color of food. Objectively speaking, pigments have made great contributions to the development of modern food industry, greatly increasing the varieties and patterns of food, prospering the food market, enriching our dining table, making our food more attractive and satisfying people's pursuit of food. Safety of edible pigment: From the perspective of safety, as long as the pigment is used within the scope and standards allowed by the state, it will not cause harm to health. The problem at present is that it is too common to add pigments to food. Even if the pigment content in a certain food is qualified, consumers may still eat a large number of foods containing the same pigment in their lives, which may still lead to excessive total pigment intake, thus bringing harm to consumers' health. In addition, some research results show that excessive intake of synthetic pigments by children may lead to behavioral abnormalities and learning disabilities. The experimental results also show that eating a lot of synthetic pigments can cause allergies, such as asthma, laryngeal edema, rhinitis, urticaria, itchy skin, nervous headache and so on. Pigment intake in a certain range will not be toxic, and only a large amount of intake may become an unsafe factor. Therefore, we are not opposed to the addition of pigments to food, but we are opposed to the abuse of pigments, and we are even more opposed to the use of hidden pigments. Because it is not clear about the potential harmful factors of many pigments when taken in large quantities, it is necessary to have the pigment label and content on the packaging instructions of food for consumers to choose when buying food. In order to protect people's health, the state has made strict regulations on the variety, scope and amount of artificial synthetic pigments allowed in food. At present, the common synthetic pigments approved for use in food are carmine, amaranth, lemon yellow, sunset yellow and brilliant blue. The Hygienic Standard for the Use of Food Additives clearly stipulates the scope and dosage of food pigments, which can be used in soft drinks (such as carbonated drinks), preserves, cakes, sweets, jellies and so on. It is forbidden to add synthetic pigments to milk, purified water, meat products (such as dried meat, bacon and floss) and roasted seeds and nuts (such as melon seeds and pine nuts). It is also emphasized that it is strictly forbidden to use any synthetic pigment in infant food. However, the food market is mixed, and there are always some unscrupulous traders who add too much pigment in pursuit of profits. In order to reduce the harm of pigment to our health, consumers can take some measures to reduce the intake of pigment in addition to strengthening management and crackdown by relevant competent departments. When choosing food, don't be confused by the gorgeous colors and gorgeous coats in the food, improve your awareness of self-protection, distinguish carefully, and avoid buying excessively bright food. Simple identification method: first of all, look at the ingredient list on the food label and try to eat less food containing synthetic pigments. Secondly, for foods that we can't tell whether there is too much pigment, consumers can choose those brand-name products, because brand-name products care about their own reputation and require higher product quality. Thirdly, food intake should be diversified, which is not only the guarantee of balanced nutrition, but also the guarantee of food safety. In a word, pigment is the product of scientific and technological development, and there is nothing wrong with it. The important thing is to see how to use it. If it is used well, it can benefit mankind, and if it is not used well, it will bring harm and even disaster to society and mankind. Therefore, we call on the food industry to strengthen its own management, improve enterprise technology, and strictly follow the range and dosage of edible pigments stipulated by the state so that pigments can play their due role in our food industry.