An official website of the United States government.
A study undertaken by Southampton University provided evidence for a possible link between the consumption of six food colours (Sunset Yellow (E110), Quinoline Yellow (E104), Carmoisine (E122), Allura Red (E129), Tartrazine (E102) and Ponceau 4R (E124)) and hyperactivity in 3 year old and 8/9 year old children in the general population. Following publication of the findings in 2007, and a review by the independent Committee of Toxicity, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) requested manufacturers to voluntarily remove these colours, prior to legislative change requiring additional labelling on products containing these colours indicting their potential effect on the behaviour of children. This requirement will be enforceable from 20th July, 2010.<P>
While it is known that larger manufacturers appear to have made progress in this area, information is lacking on the progress of Scottish Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in replacing the Southampton Six colours. It was also unclear to what extent these businesses are aware of the labelling legislation due to come into force on 20th July 2010, and its impact regarding use of these colours.
Research Approach:<BR> The research, comprised three main stages: ten scoping interviews with a range of Scottish SMEs, a quantitative telephone survey of 111 food producing SMEs; and a series of five follow-up in depth interviews. The fieldwork was conducted between 1 February and 16 April 2010.<P>
Results and findings:<BR> Over a third of the SMEs surveyed were using at least one of the Southampton Six colours in the manufacture of their foods with tartrazine being the most common. Awareness of the link between the Southampton Six colours and increased hyperactivity in children was high (80%), but awareness of both the voluntary withdrawal and the new labelling requirements was much lower: (35% and 33% respectively). When given more information on the new labelling 61% indicated they would remove or replace the colours, whereas 22% indicated they would prefer to change their labelling in line with the new regulations. The most commonly anticipated barriers to removal were changes to the appearance of the product, increased costs and the availability of alternative colours. For those SMEs that had already removed the colours, it was identified that the problems had been changes to the appearance of the products and the availability of alternative colours. The SMEs interviewed identified that they would find guidance on the labelling requirements and technical assistance on alternative colours useful.
<p>Find more about this project and other FSA food safety-related projects at the <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/" target="_blank">Food Standards Agency Research webpage</a>.