The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Synthetic colours used in sweets to lure consumers: study

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 27, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Synthetic colours used in sweets to lure consumers: study

By Our Staff Reporter

THANJAVUR, APRIL 26. Synthetic food colours are added to sweets sold in stalls to enhance their appearance to only lure consumers and to promote sales, said a survey conducted by the Directorate of Food and Public distribution wing of the Federation of Consumer Organisations — Tamil Nadu and Pondichery (FEDCOT).

Some sweet stalls add synthetic food colours in large quantity unaware of the side effects such colours cause. There are stalls which add food colours that are not permitted.

K.G. Palani, Director, Food and Public Distribution System, FEDCOT based at Tiruvarur, said the survey was conducted in 10 districts from March 20-31. Questionnaires were given to 144 stalls in Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli, Dindigul, Ramanathapuram, Cuddalore, Tiruvallur, Nilgiris and Chennai and their replies collected. Thirtyfive varieties of sweets were collected and their contents tested at the Food Analysis Laboratory here.

Eightyfive per cent of the stalls are located at bus stands and bazaars. The remaining 15 per cent near schools and places of worship.

In all, 62.5 per cent of the shops are the ones from where the poor and middleclass people purchase sweets.

Red synthetic food colours are used in 81 per cent of the sweets sold in the stalls, yellow in 88 per cent and green in 51 per cent of the sweets. Apart from these colours, cocoa, orange and caramel colours are being used.

The FEDCOT called for conducting an awareness campaign by the government on the side effects caused by overuse of the food colours and for not using the ones that are not permitted.

According to Dr. Palani, permitted synthetic food colours are erythromicine, carmoicine, indico caramine, brilliant blue, tatrazine, sunset yellow and fast green. Any synthetic food colour should not exceed 100 parts per million. Overuse would lead to alergy and stomach, eye, liver and kidney problems.

In small sweet stalls synthetic food colours such as avromicine, metanyl yellow, lead chromate and rhodamine, which are not permitted, are used.

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