Colours banned

The so called Southampton Six food colours are sunset yellow (E110), tartrazine (E102), carmoisine (E122), ponceau 4R (E124), quinoline yellow (E104), and allura red (E129). In a study published in The Lancet in 2007, they were used in mixtures that were linked to hyperactivity in children.

After a campaign by consumer groups, Aldi has become the first Australian supermarket group to require the removal of the Southampton Six, as well as other colours and preservatives it considers suspect, from it’s products. The deadline it has set is the end of 2009.Natural alternatives may be considered in it’s 205 stores along the Australian east coast.

“We chose not to wait for it be legislated in Australia as we believe the findings are enough to demonstrate this is the right thing to do,” group managing director Michael Kloeters said.

A campaign has been underway since September 2008 to encourage the Australian government to ban these six colours, as well as removing benzoate preservatives (210 – 218), sulphites (220-228), propionates (280 – 283) and synthetic antioxidants 310-312 and 319-320. The campaign is called ‘Kids First’ and is backed by Additive Alert, Food Intolerance Network, and Additive Education.

Aldi is alone in this decision at this stage, as Food Standards Australia New Zealand concludes that because the use of these colours is currently too low to be a public health risk, they will remain permitted by the Food Standards Code. This opinion is based on the results of a survey of usage that was conducted in 2006.

In July, the Members of the European Parliament voted for products that contain these colours to be labelled “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children”. There are some in the food industry that are calling this new requirement t a de facto ban, as there is little likelihood that a food business would want to use this labelling on their products.

It must be noted that after a review of the Southampton Study, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) found no scientific evidence supporting the current intake recommendations for any of these food additives. However, based on the European Parliament decision, the EFSA is now conducting a review of all safety data on all food additives.