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HUE and cry

PHOTO: K. ANANTHAN

GIVE ME RED But, is the bright red colour of the chilli powder genuine?

Gleaming orange kesari, raw mango chunks pepped up with bright red chilli powder, lemon-yellow turmeric powder to brighten up dal…sounds delicious; but the bitter truth is, these colourful powders we buy from stores may actually be loaded with toxic additives.

Grind turmeric at home, and you will know that pure turmeric powder has a mustard tone. The bright, lemon-yellow shade in turmeric powder sold in packets signals adulteration with finely-powdered yellow chalk, or yellow synthetic colorants. So while the pinch of home-ground turmeric powder that our grand moms added to dishes was a health shield — turmeric being anti-microbial, mucolytic, a tumor suppressor and also a liver tonic — the pinch of the powder we now add may actually be ravaging our tissues. Likewise, genuine chilli powder is dull red in colour; bright red chilli powder suggests addition of carcinogenic agents such as sudan, kumkum or brick powder. Coriander powder is often adulterated with dried horse dung, and pepper powder with powdered, dry papaya seeds.

The bright colour of some colourful food may come from synthetic colours such as Blue 1, Blue 2, Red 3, Red 4 and Yellow 6 which are suspected to be harmful to health. The attractive orange colour we add to kesari may be toxic to our tissues. Use of harmful food colorants is rampant in India, and many restaurants use liberal doses of these to make dishes look attractive. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), India has found the presence of harmful chemicals in spice powders.

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