What makes artificial food color bad?
Artificial food color is derived from coal tar and petroleum.
Coal tar is a brown or black liquid of extremely high viscosity. Coal tar is a very complex mixture. Coal tar is flammable, and it is known to cause cancer in humans, and several PAH compounds in coal tar are toxic to aquatic life. Since it is being used in artificial food color, humans that consume it have a chance of getting cancer, or tumors.
Petroleum is a flammable liquid. It is now a more commonly mixture for making artificial food colors. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil draining. So even before it is made into food color, the process of extracting it is already effecting the environment. It can also damage the ecosystem through oil spills.
Overall, artificial colors are just for making the food look appetizing, while the risks associate with it.
Coal tar is a brown or black liquid of extremely high viscosity. Coal tar is a very complex mixture. Coal tar is flammable, and it is known to cause cancer in humans, and several PAH compounds in coal tar are toxic to aquatic life. Since it is being used in artificial food color, humans that consume it have a chance of getting cancer, or tumors.
Petroleum is a flammable liquid. It is now a more commonly mixture for making artificial food colors. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil draining. So even before it is made into food color, the process of extracting it is already effecting the environment. It can also damage the ecosystem through oil spills.
Overall, artificial colors are just for making the food look appetizing, while the risks associate with it.