Do you recall what huge news it was when red dye #2 was found to be carcinogenic and banned in the 1970s? In the grand scheme of things, that was just one of many steps along the way to banning food dye. It really didn't make much difference, as food scientists came up with new ways to make our food more red. It's a process that's been going on thousands of years. Food dyes were used to make food more attractive when it was less than palatable under the surface, or even spoiled. When we got tired enough of dangerous stuff added to our food, we introduced the Food and Drug Administration, which has saved a lot of lives.
At about the same time (well, the 20th century), food manufacturers came up with tons of new synthetic dyes to make processed food any color you can imagine. Each one is tested thoroughly, and many have been banned. Because it takes a long time to phase out these dyes, the industry comes up with new ones. But eventually, we are going to have to get used to food in its natural state, or at least dressed up with natural food dyes. Will that be so bad? Tom Blank of Weird history Food explains.
Saturday, January 10, 2026
About Food Dyes
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Used to think EZ was the abbreviated name of some state, when I first came across it.
Z being pronounced as ZED in every English speaking country apart form the USA.
These days, with the search engines all being under American control, we all know that a zebra is now a zebra, rather than being called a zebra the same as the Africans that lived right next to them do.
How ez the language morphs.
I sometimes nearly throw books across the room, when they are by an American author and use poor, or incorrect, English.
Smelled and smelt have different meanings, Tyler, and nobody can come with.
In other news, my youngest clone had issues with food colourings, and he would bounce off walls and be supercharged a'la Speedy Gonzales, if he had some drink or lollie (AUS) sweet (UK) candy (USA)
As soon as we realised the cause, back in 1995, his world went dark.
Post a Comment