Color in food (pigment)

1. What is pigment:

The substances that make various substances produce various colors are pigments. We see colorful foods every day because they contain various kinds of pigments, so we have seen foods of different colors. If the foods contain no pigments, The food we see will be transparent or white.

2. Why do you want to add color to food:

Foods pay attention to color, aroma and taste, and the color ranks first. It shows the importance of pigment in food. Foods with good color, aroma and taste can enhance appetite through visual sensory stimulation, in order to attract people's appetite, food. Various colors have been added to attract consumers, and it is understood that orange foods are the most desirable for people to eat.

3. Pigments are food additives:

Pigments are food additives and are a class of colorants in food additives.

4. Classification of pigments:

The pigments added to foods are classified into artificial synthetic pigments and natural pigments. Various pigments are compounded in different proportions of the three primary colors of red, yellow and blue, and a wide variety of colors can be produced.

5. Source of pigment:

Synthetic pigment refers to the organic pigment prepared by artificial chemical synthesis method, which is mainly made up of aniline dye separated from coal tar. According to the structure, synthetic pigments can be divided into azo and oxonium. And diphenylmethane-based pigments; natural pigments are those that are extracted from plants, animals, microorganisms or minerals by physical methods without changing the molecular structure of the pigments. Oil-soluble, alcohol-soluble pigment.

6. Hazard of pigment:

It is harmless to use all kinds of pigments reasonably and legally. However, a large number of studies have shown that excessive consumption of synthetic pigments can be deposited in the liver, which can cause fertility decline and teratogenicity. Some synthetic pigments may be converted into carcinogens in the human body, which may cause developmental disorders and hyperactivity in children, and cause inflammation in cosmetics. Even the possibility of cancer; natural pigments are not harmless, excessive consumption will not be safe, such as continuous consumption of large quantities of citrus, or radish, etc., may cause excessive amounts of radish or other substances, causing skin yellowing and other symptoms However, if you stop eating for a while, it will automatically return to normal.

7. China allows the use of synthetic pigments in food:

The synthetic pigments allowed in GB2760 as of October 24, 2015 are: erythrosine red and its aluminum lake, indigo and its aluminum lake, titanium dioxide, tomato red, riboflavin, β-carotene, quinoline yellow , bright blue and its aluminum lake, lemon yellow and its aluminum lake, sunset yellow and its aluminum lake, acid red (also known as azo jade red), amaranth and its aluminum lake, new red and its aluminum Precipitate, carmine and its aluminum lake, iron oxide black, iron oxide red, temptation red and its aluminum lake and other seventeen.

8. China allows the use of natural pigments in food:

The natural pigments allowed in GB2760 as of October 24, 2015 are: β-Apo-8'-carotene, lycopene, citrus yellow, black bean red, blackcurrant red, safflower yellow, red rice red, Red yeast red, red yeast yellow, natural beta-carotene, peanut red, curcumin, caramel, golden cherry, chrysanthemum yellow extract, cocoa shell color, chili orange, chili red, chili oleoresin, blue hazelnut Red, radish red, red sunflower, roselle red, dense yellow, grape skin red, mulberry red, sea buckthorn yellow, jujube color, natural amaranth, acorn shell brown, cochineal red, annatto orange, red bayberry, Lutein, chlorophyll copper, chlorophyll copper sodium salt, chlorophyll copper potassium salt, corn yellow, bilberry red, cyanobacteria, gardenia yellow, gardenia blue, plant carbon black, comfrey red, purple sweet potato pigment, shellac red, Forty-eight species, such as sorghum red and beet red.

9. Functional or physiological activity of the pigment:

Almost all artificial synthetic pigments can not provide nutrients to the human body, and there is no beneficial physiological function; some natural pigments are also raw materials for health care products, which have health care effects and certain physiological functions, such as lycopene, carotene and flowers. Anti-oxidation, free radical scavenging effects of lutein, protective and repair effects of lutein on the macula, anti-inflammatory muscle of curcumin, anti-tumor effect, etc.

10. Suggestions for using colored foods:

Usually, after we eat or drink, we observe our mouth and tongue. If there is pigment residue, it is recommended to eat less of this kind of food. It is usually only synthetic pigment and the concentration is high. Many red and purple red natural pigments are used. A large number of anthocyanin pigments derived from the synthesis of plants themselves. The role of these anthocyanins is to absorb excess sunlight, neutralize excessive free radicals, and protect the normal operation of the chloroplast. From this perspective, anthocyanins are indeed playing an antioxidant role. However, it should be noted that this is in plants, not necessarily in animals or in humans. The body's antioxidant mechanism is completely different from that of plants. Also, eating a lot of antioxidants is not necessarily a good thing.

A review published in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is more resistant to antioxidant health products. If a total of 68 studies involving more than 230,000 people are summarized, it can be seen that several antioxidants (vitamin A, vitamin E and beta-carotene) analyzed have no effect on mortality. Dr. Yun Wuxin from the Science Squirrel Society has written that, so far, 47 high-quality studies have been analyzed, and these antioxidants have even increased mortality slightly. Excessive antioxidants bring more uncertainty.

Lutein has a certain protective effect on the macula of the eye, but the promotion of the health effect of lutein on the market is somewhat exaggerated. Some people even think that the eye has a problem or the vision is declining. Eating lutein will return to normal. The actual effect may only be experienced by the people who have eaten.

If you eat anthocyanins can really rejuvenate, eating lutein can make your eyes brighter, then we will recognize these side effects. But the key is that the current human experiment results show that there is almost no obvious effect on eating anthocyanins. The eyes of people who eat lutein are not bright enough. The utility of many functional health supplements is exaggerated, so it seems that there is absolutely no need to entangle this substance. Even if it is better to add anthocyanins and lutein than a good attitude, then we can choose to eat more purple cabbage, red cabbage and red leeks to supplement the anthocyanins, eat more carrots, corn. And pumpkin can add lutein and carotene, eat more colorful, colorful fruits and vegetables will be no problem, there is no need to let your own bag bleeding.