Color is one of the most important sensory properties of food, which can bring great visual impact to consumers. The history of its application in food can be traced back to ancient Egypt. Around 1500 BC, local candy manufacturers used natural extracts and wine to improve the color of candy. With the occurrence of the industrial revolution, the food industry has also developed rapidly, and more and more pigments have been developed, forming an important category of additives-food colorants.   Food colorants are a large class of food additives that are mainly designed to color foods, give them bright colors and improve the color of foods. According to the source of colorants, they can be divided into two types: natural colorants and synthetic colorants. Natural pigments are pigments extracted from plants, such as carotenoids extracted from carrots, lycopene extracted from tomatoes, etc., and some are derived from animals or microorganisms, such as cochineal red and monascus red. Synthetic colorants are non-natural pigments produced by artificial synthesis technology, such as carmine, lemon yellow, and brilliant blue.   The specific functions of colorants in food processing and production are as follows:   ①　Improve the deterioration of the natural color of food caused by processing, and maintain the attractive color of the food.   ② 　 Give food color, such as candy, jelly and other foods added food coloring can increase consumers' desire to buy and appetite.   ③　Make the product color uniform and reduce the natural deviation of the color of food or ingredients.   Coloring agents are not terrible. my country has strict review procedures and related specifications for the use of coloring agents. Moreover, our country has higher requirements for synthetic pigments, so as long as they are used reasonably in accordance with relevant regulations, artificial pigments, like natural pigments, will not harm human health.

Color is one of the most important sensory properties of food, which can bring great visual impact to consumers. The history of its application in food can be traced back to ancient Egypt. Around 1500 BC, local candy manufacturers used natural extracts and wine to improve the color of candy. With the occurrence of the industrial revolution, the food industry has also developed rapidly, and more and more pigments have been developed, forming an important category of additives-food colorants.   Food colorants are a large class of food additives that are mainly designed to color foods, give them bright colors and improve the color of foods. According to the source of colorants, they can be divided into two types: natural colorants and synthetic colorants. Natural pigments are pigments extracted from plants, such as carotenoids extracted from carrots, lycopene extracted from tomatoes, etc., and some are derived from animals or microorganisms, such as cochineal red and monascus red. Synthetic colorants are non-natural pigments produced by artificial synthesis technology, such as carmine, lemon yellow, and brilliant blue.   The specific functions of colorants in food processing and production are as follows:   ①　Improve the deterioration of the natural color of food caused by processing, and maintain the attractive color of the food.   ② 　 Give food color, such as candy, jelly and other foods added food coloring can increase consumers' desire to buy and appetite.   ③　Make the product color uniform and reduce the natural deviation of the color of food or ingredients.   Coloring agents are not terrible. my country has strict review procedures and related specifications for the use of coloring agents. Moreover, our country has higher requirements for synthetic pigments, so as long as they are used reasonably in accordance with relevant regulations, artificial pigments, like natural pigments, will not harm human health.

The safety of aluminum lake products can be explained from four aspects.   1. Aluminum oxide (alumina) in aluminum lake is actually a kind of carrier. Aluminum oxide accounts for 15%-17% of aluminum lake, and the highest is no more than 18%. The aluminum content in aluminum oxide is 53%. The amount of colorant aluminum lake is generally 0.01-0.1g/kg, and the aluminum content is 0.0008-0.009g/kg, which is much less than the other four aluminum-containing food additives mentioned above.   2. Aluminum lakes were first used in Europe and the United States, and they are still in use now. The allowable usage is much higher than my country's standards, and the usage in the US is 1-3g/kg. The United States is a country with high requirements for the safety of food additives, but so far, it has not done toxicological experiments on aluminum oxide in aluminum lakes. Because they have always believed that the aluminum oxide in the aluminum lake is very safe.   3. Because aluminum lake is insoluble in water, it is mostly used for oily food. Therefore, it has greater limitations in its use. It can be used for decorating cakes, fancy styles on cold drinks, and also used for chocolate, high-fat candy, etc. Consumers actually consume very little aluminum from aluminum lakes. In addition, if the application of aluminum lakes is eliminated, there is no safer water-insoluble pigment that can be replaced.   4. From a biological point of view, aluminum lake is different from potassium aluminum sulfate, ammonium aluminum sulfate, sodium aluminosilicate, aluminum octenyl succinate, aluminum lake enters the human body, and part of it is decomposed into pigments in the stomach And aluminum oxide, and aluminum oxide may also be partially decomposed into trivalent aluminum, so the actual aluminum precipitation is a small amount. How much of the aluminum in the aluminum lake is absorbed? Because of its high safety for a long time, no one has ever done a biological characteristic test in this area.

For the use of food coloring, some people may have some misunderstandings.   For example, some people think that natural colors are safer than synthetic colors, but they are not.   Natural pigments and synthetic pigments have certain safety problems in the raw materials, extraction, and processing. Some natural pigments lack toxicological data, so they are safer if they are not natural pigments.   The permitted food colorings, whether natural or synthetic, are safe as long as they are regulated and used legally within the prescribed scope. If overdose, over-range use, or non-food coloring such as Sudan red is added to food, it may cause harm.