Alarm over colour in common foods

AUTHORITIES are reviewing alarming new scientific evidence that artificial colours found in thousands of common foods may pose a risk of cancer and hyperactivity or allergic reactions in children.

The research, conducted by the Centre for Science in the Public Interest in the United States, calls for common colours in everything from breakfast cereals to confectionary to be banned.

"These synthetic chemicals do absolutely nothing to improve the nutritional quality or safety of foods, but trigger behavior problems in children and, possibly, cancer in anybody," CSPI executive director and report co-author Michael Jacobson said.

The colours include the widely used yellow 5, also known as tartrazine (E102); yellow 6, or sunset yellow (E110); blue 1, (133), red 40 or allura red (E129) and red 3 (E127).

The CSPI said the colours were contaminated with known carcinogens and shown to cause cancer in rats.