Evaluation of the influence of the presence of food dyes in solid preparations for refreshments in behavioral and physiological disorders Evaluation of the influence of the presence of food dyes in solid preparations for refreshments in behavioral and physiological disorders

Abstract

The information contained on food labels must be easy to understand and follow the criteria of the legislation to better understand the components of the food. In general, the food industry makes use of dye-type additives to minimize the technological effects suffered during food processing. It is known that the only function of food colors is to impart color, offering no nutritional value. Studies show the occurrence of adverse reactions in the short and long term, due to the consumption of artificially colored foods. These reactions vary from allergies to carcinogenicity. The objective of this work was to evaluate the presence of dyes in solid refreshment preparations, associating this information with the most common conditions in the population, based on information contained on the labels. For this research, 4 brands of solid preparations for powdered soft drinks were used in the flavors: orange, strawberry, passion fruit, lemon and grape, sold in the local market of Campina Grande - PB, identifying the dyes shown on the labels by each brand to check the color desired. In the studied labels, it was verified the presence of some types of inorganic dye, artificial synthetic organic dye and caramel dye. It was found that there is a relationship of use of these products mainly by children, which can lead to changes in human behavior, causing attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity and even mutagenic potential.