Also found in Jajangmyeon... Causes 'cancer' in rats, is it safe for humans? [Delicious Story]

④ Artificial Color Additives, Extracted from Coal Tar
Over 100 Years of Debate on Human Health Effects
Approved Color Additives Reduced from 15 to 9
"May Cause Cancer in Rats... Uncertainty for Humans"

Editor's NoteThe first snack is said to have been discovered in the ancient Mesopotamian civilization. Snacks have accompanied every moment of human history. From biscuits and chocolate to ice cream, we bring you delicious stories behind the snacks we have loved.

Snacks, jelly, ice cream, sausages, and even jajangmyeon?all processed foods we enjoy contain 'color additives.' Foods without color additives usually look dull and less fresh, which psychologically affects consumers. However, controversies surrounding the health issues of color additives have never ceased. Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) demanded food corporations to 'remove artificial color additives,' reigniting the debate.

From snacks and jelly to jajangmyeon, the processed foods we enjoy often contain 'color additives.' However, controversies surrounding the health issues of these color additives have never ceased. Getty Images

From Snacks to General Foods... Artificial Color Additives Are Essential Ingredients

According to Bloomberg and other sources, Robert Kennedy Jr., U.S. HHS Secretary, requested senior executives of major U.S. food companies last month to voluntarily devise plans to remove artificial color additives. After the meeting, Secretary Kennedy posted on his X account, claiming, "We will remove toxins from our food."

Jelly is a representative processed food made by coloring with artificial dyes. Pixabay

Artificial color additives are essential ingredients in the modern food processing industry. Almost every snack or food we enjoy contains artificial color additives. These additives intensify the red, blue, and yellow colors of food, making color-treated foods look more appetizing and fresh. Foods without artificial color additives, appearing 'natural,' often look less healthy.

However, the effects of artificial color additives on the human body remain an unsettled area. Numerous artificial color additives have undergone debates, research, and experiments, repeatedly being approved or banned by health authorities.

Are Color Additives Made from 'Coal Tar' Harmful to Health?

Color additives were first invented in 1856 by British chemist Sir William Henry Perkin. The first color additive was extracted from tar, a viscous substance obtained from coal. Subsequently, various colorants using tar were invented, and today's artificial color additives are also tar-based. The official English term for artificial color additives is 'Coal tar dye.'

A researcher at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) experimenting with coal tar dye. FDA

Tar itself is a highly toxic substance that causes fatal side effects when it comes into contact with human skin or organs. However, chemicals distilled and extracted from tar are different. Paracetamol, a fever-reducing analgesic commonly known as Tylenol in Korea, is made by distilling tar. Similarly, artificial color additives are synthesized in trace amounts from benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and other substances extracted from tar. Food authorities worldwide strictly regulate the amount of artificial color additives that can be added when making jelly, ice cream, cereal, or a single sausage.

The controversy over the toxicity of artificial color additives has lasted for over 100 years. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved 15 artificial color additives until 1938. However, after children who ate candy containing the orange artificial color additive 'FD&C Orange No. 1' during Halloween in 1950 fell ill en masse, regulations on artificial color additives became stricter. Since then, food authorities worldwide have collaborated with scientists to conduct various clinical trials on color additives, narrowing the number of widely approved artificial color additives to nine.

Debates over whether to approve individual color additives continue. In January, the FDA revoked approval for 'FD&C Red No. 3' after clinical trials on lab rats suggested a potential cancer risk.

Red No. 3 was first approved in 1969, but its permitted uses vary by country. The European Union (EU) effectively banned it in 1994 except for coloring cherry products, and the U.S. had already banned it in cosmetics applied to the skin, such as lipstick and lotion. In Korea, it is only allowed in limited amounts in snacks, candy, gum, ice cream, and some beverages.

The Cause of Confusion Is Lack of Data

In the European Union (EU), FD&C Red No. 3 dye is added to make the cherry color more vivid. Getty Images

The ongoing controversy over artificial color additives stems from consumers' difficulty in being certain about their effects on the human body and appropriate intake levels. The confusion arises from a lack of data.

The scientist who first identified the cancer-causing potential of Red No. 3 is Joseph Borzelleca, a toxicology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. He established a correlation between tar-derived color additives and cancer in lab rats and received a lifetime achievement award from Virginia in 2001. However, Professor Borzelleca himself states that it is unknown whether artificial color additives cause cancer in humans.

In an interview with the American popular science magazine Scientific American in January, he explained that the specific gene causing cancer in rats is absent in humans, saying, "The mechanism by which Red No. 3 causes cancer in rats does not occur the same way in humans." He added, "If I believed there was a problem for humans, I would have mentioned it in my papers. My family and I have consumed Red No. 3 over the years without any issues."