Blue 1
Flavors + Colors
Potentially Harmful
Details
Definition
FD&C Blue 1 also known as Brilliant Blue FCF is an artificial blue dye derived from petroleum or crude oil and widely used in foods such as candies, confections, beverages, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices.
Color additives are classified as straight colors, lakes or mixtures. Lakes are formed by combining dyes with salts to make them insoluble compounds ideal for coloring products with insufficient moisture to dissolve dyes, fats or oils. Lakes for food use must be made from certified batches of straight colors. (One exception is carmine, which made from cochineal extract.) Lakes for food use are made with aluminum cation as the precipitant and aluminum hydroxide as the substratum. Used in foods, chewing gum, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics soaps and shampoo.
AKAs
Blue #1,Brilliant Blue FCF,Blue 1 Lake,Blue No. 1 Aluminum Lake,Blue #1 Lake,BLUE NO. 1
Health Impact
Some people, especially children, may be sensitive to food dyes, and have experienced allergic reactions when consuming them. Artificial food dyes have also been linked to increased behavioral problems in children, especially those with ADHD, because they may cause chemical changes in the brain, inflammation, and depletion of minerals that are important to growth and development.
Sources
Potential impacts of synthetic food dyes on activity and attention in children: a review of the human and animal evidence
https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-022-00849-9Artificial Food Colors and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Symptoms: Conclusions to Dye for
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3441937/Color Additives Questions and Answers for Consumers
https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/color-additives-questions-and-answers-consumersColor Additives History
https://www.fda.gov/industry/color-additives/color-additives-history#:~:text=Lakes%20for%20food%20use%20are,inks%20used%20to%20mark%20confectionery).Mechanisms of behavioral, atopic, and other reactions to artificial food colors in children
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23590704/Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risk
https://cspinet.org/sites/default/files/attachment/food-dyes-rainbow-of-risks.pdfReading ingredients made easy. For quicker, healthier decisions.
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