Caramel colour is a commercially produced beige to dark brown colour that is made using natural ingredients. Caramel colour itself results from the process of caramelization, or the carefully controlled heating of carbohydrates (nutritive sweeteners). The use of caramel colouring in food products is nothing new; in fact, caramel colour has been used for centuries. Caramel colour in food and beverage products is not a health risk.
Caramel colour is naturally derived. Sugars are cooked to produce a brown colour that is used in a wide variety of soft drinks, baked goods, pet foods, alcoholic beverages, sauces and other food and beverage products that have a brown hue.
Learn more about caramel color in the following video interview with food industry expert Margaret Lawson, Chief Science Officer, DDW “The Color House”:
Margaret Lawson, Chief Science Officer at DDW and a leading expert in the food & beverage industry, explains the naturally formed 4-Methylimidazole (4-MeI, sometimes incorrectly referred to as “4-MI” by CSPI) appearing in many foods:
Caramel colour has undergone complete food safety testing more than 20 times in the past 35 years, and caramel colour meets rigorous food safety standards
around the world. According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA):
On 26th June, 2012, the British Soft Drink Association issued a statement saying:
Caramel colouring has been tested extensively in the 1970s and 1980s and was found to be safe. Caramel colour does not cause cancer and has Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status with the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Industry expert Margaret Lawson, Chief Science Officer, DDW, has this to say about caramel colouring in food and beverage products:
Historically, caramel colour has been produced for years and can be found in soft drinks, pet foods, alcoholic beverages, sauces, and more.
“There’s never been any issue with caramel colors,” Lawson adds.
The American Beverage Association states that:
In 2012, the Southern California Institute of Food Technologists Section (SCiftS) released the following statement in preparation for the Southern California Food Industry Conference. This includes a presentation by Jim Coughlin, Ph.D., world-renowned Sane Science Food Consultant with over 35 years of experience in food and nutritional toxicology, diet and health, risk communication and scientific regulatory affairs. In his presentation — entitled Prop 65: Foods and Dietary Supplements Under Siege! — Coughlin will be discussing scientific and regulatory issues in the food and beverage industry under California’s Proposition 65. More information is available here. Coughlin had the following to say about Prop 65:
Unfortunately, [California's Proposition 65] and its regulations focus only on the presence of trace levels of individual, listed chemicals in products, but not on the safety or benefits of the whole food or supplement product, nor about real harm to California consumers.
The stakes remain very high for agriculture, foods and supplements, since our products will be under increasing regulatory and legal pressure from Prop 65.”
40 years of caramel safety studies have all indicated that caramel is of no health threat to humans. DDW, for example, has participated in millions of dollars of safety studies over the past forty years, all of which have concluded that caramel colour is safe and harmless. Ted Nixon, President and CEO of DDW, says, “There has never been a study showing any health risk from caramel coloring.”
from Soft Drinks International, April 2012:
“In response to a release issued by the US Center for Science in the Public Interest regarding the safety of 4-MeI, which forms in foods such as caramel used by the beverage industry, the American Beverage Association stated that: “This is nothing more than CSPI scare tactics…”
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reaffirmed the safety of caramel colouring back in March 2011 following a comprehensive review of the scientific literature. It stated that the presence of 4-MeI in caramel colouring is not a health concern.
Leading regulatory authorities around the world also judge caramel colouring as safe for use in food and beverages. in November 2011, Health Canada said that 4-MeI, including that found in certain caramel colours, does “not represent a risk” to consumers, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved caramel as a colour additive and lists it as a “generally recognized as safe” food ingredient.
Commenting on the CSPI study linking caramel to cancer in rodents, an FDA spokesperson noted that:
And these numbers would be for an entire lifetime!
See the following resources for more information about caramel colouring in food and beverage products.
Studies on Caramel Colour Safety:
EFSA Reviews Safety of Caramel Colours
Ontario Research Foundation’s study on Caramel Toxicity (1979 – 1981)
Bio Research Laboratories Bioassey of Caramels Consumed By Rats (1978)
Letter to Caramel Customers
Articles and Additional Information: