We often see words like all natural, 100% natural, natural color, natural flavor, natural ingredients, and natural antioxidants as indications of healthy foods. The opposite is true when we read something like artificial flavoring, artificial food coloring, synthetic chemical that we always see in a negative sense as the signs of an unhealthy food. However, natural does NOT always mean safe and artificial is NOT synonymous with toxic. But what would you say about healthy dried fruits that were artificially colored?
The basic principle of toxicology, started by Paracelsus many centuries ago, states: All substances are poisons; there is none that is not poison. The correct dose only differentiates the poison from a remedy. This eye-opening statement helps to understand why moderation in food is very important for everyone, regardless of the type of food eaten. But how can we control food coloring intake if manufacturers keep added amounts secret? This is why I began to analytically detect and publish the content of food coloring in many popular foods and beverages.
Did you know that beyond countless sodas and candies, artificial food coloring is also added to gum, pickles, some mustards, and even fresh salmon. Did you know that Citrus Red No. 2 azo dye, banned as a suspected carcinogen, is still used under FDA approval to color the skin of oranges? What if a mother decides to make candied orange peel and then give it to her adorable babies? I knew it too. But you would never imagine finding a staggering amount of artificial coloring added to a dried fruit.
Yes, they add Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 to enhance the dried papaya! In a SunTree Papaya Chunk container purchased from a Wal-Mart store, the following food dyes were detected by Vis spectroscopy:
- 140 mg / packet of FD&C Yellow 5 and
- 130 mg / packet of FD&C Yellow 6
A total of 270 mg of azo dyes are many of the chemicals that do not have a positive biochemical role in the human body. The combined amount of Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 detected in Farmer’s Fruit Mix produced by Waymouth Farms was 66 mg per 12 OZ (340 g) container. Again, the artificial colors come from the papaya and mango chunks only, while the blueberries, apples, raisins, and other fruits present in the same container were found to be clean.
To avoid exposure to artificial food colors, you can separate the papaya and mango chunks and eat the rest. Interestingly, for some reason they do not add artificial colors to nuts other than papaya and mango: Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 do not appear on the labels of dried apricots, blueberries, blueberries, pineapples, etc., which can be purchased for separated. . Therefore, the recommendation would be to read the ingredient lists carefully. This little job may well prevent you from wasting your money on artificially dyed dried fruit.