Assessment of Unauthorized Artificial Food Colorants in Confectionery Products in Zanjan, Iran

Background: Unconsciousness and misuse of synthetic and non-permitted food colorants are considered widespread fraud and a serious threat to the health of the community, especially young children. The purpose of this study was to determine the status of three non-permitted food colorants in confectionery products in Zanjan. Methods: As a cross-sectional study, ۱۵۰ samples of Confectionery products (candies, polki, pastilles, chocolate confectioneries such as Smarties, dragées, freezer pops, and cakes) were randomly sampled from different supply centers in Zanjan, during the summer of ۲۰۲۰. Color analysis was performed by the thin-layer chromatography (TLC) method. Finally, the retention value (RF criterion) was used to detect color type. Results: In this study, among all samples were collected from the supply centers including confectionaries and supermarkets, ۴۷ samples (۳۱%) contained at least one or three banned yellow synthetic dyes including tartrazine (E ۱۰۲), amaranth (E ۱۲۳) and chocolate brown HT E ۱۵۵) with a misuse rate ۴۲%, ۳۱% and ۲۰%, respectively. Tartrazine had the highest misuse rate among the studied dyes. Conclusion: The study concludes that unauthorized synthetic food colors-specifically tartrazine, amaranth, and chocolate brown-are widely present in confectionery products in Zanjan, Iran, with ۸۰% of samples containing at least one of these additives.

کلیدواژه ها:

Amaramth ، Brown chocolate dye ، Confectionery products ، Synthetic color additives ، Tartrazine