Abstract
Objective
Food colorants (synthetic, inorganic and natural) represent one of the major categories of food additives. Synthetic colorants were banned due to their adverse effects on animals and human. However, synthetic dyes are still in use because they are cheap, and stable.
Methods
In the present in vivo study conducted on female albino rats (Rattus norvegicus), the effect of sunset yellow (SY) and sodium benzoate (NaB) combinations on the hematological and histological profile was assessed. Different combinations of SY plus NaB were dissolved in water and administered daily to experimental rat groups for 12 weeks. Group 1 (control) received only water, group 2 received 5 mg SY plus 10 mg NaB, group 3 received 5 mg SY plus 100 mg NaB, group 4 received 50 mg SY plus 100 mg NaB, group 5 received 50 mg SY plus 10 mg NaB, group 6 received 200 mg SY plus 750 mg NaB, and group 7 received 20 mg SY plus 75 mg NaB. Histopathological examinations were performed on liver and kidney of rats at the end of the experiment.
Results
The results revealed a decrease in RBCs count, hematocrit, WBCs, MCV and Hb levels upon the administration of SY plus NaB. The results also showed no increase in MCH, MCHC and platelet count. Liver and kidney tissues showed some lesions due to the administration of the tested compounds in comparison to the control animals.
Conclusion
The chemical stress caused by the SY and NaB combinations caused some degenerative changes in the liver and kidneys of rats. It could be concluded that SY and NaB combinations causes some damage in liver and kidney tissues of experimental animals. Therefore, using SY and NaB combinations should be limited.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Public Law 85-929, Food Additives Amendment of 1958. USA, pp. 1784–1789, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-72/pdf/STATUTE-72-Pg1784.pdf (1958).
FAO/WHO. Evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants, thirty-seventh sixth report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, WHO Technical Report Series, No. 806, Geneva (1991).
Federal Register. 62 FR 18937, April 17. In Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105-5636 (1997).
Amchova, P., Kotolova, H. & Ruda-Kucerova, J. Health safety issues of synthetic food colorants. Reg. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 73, 914–922 (2015).
FAO/WHO. Class names and the international numbering system for food additives, http://www.codexalimentarius.org (2014).
Helal, E. G. E., Zaahkouk, S. A. M. & Mekkawy, H. A. Effect of some food colourants (synthetic and natural products) of young albino rats. Egypt J. Hospital Med. 1, 103–113 (2000).
Soltan, S. S. A. & Shehata, M. M. E. M. The effects of using color foods of children on immunity properties and liver, kidney on rats. Food Nutr. Sci. 3, 897–904 (2012).
Sharma, U. K., Kumar, R., Gupta, A., Ganguly, R. & Pandey, A. K. Renoprotective effect of cinnamaldehyde in food color induced toxicity. 3 Biotech. 8, 212 (2018).
Sharma, U. K. et al. Ameliorating efficacy of eugenol against metanil yellow induced toxicity in albino Wistar rats. Food Chem. Toxicol. 126, 34–40 (2019).
Garfield, S. in Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color that Changed the World (W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2002).
Chaitanya, L. G. Food coloring: the natural way. Res. J. Chem. Sci. 4, 87–96 (2014).
Ali, M. Y., Hassan, G. M., Hassan, A. M. S., Mohamed, Z. A. & Ramadan, M. F. In vivo genotoxicity assessment of sunset yellow and sodium benzoate in female rats. Drug Chem. Toxicol. in press, https://doi.org/10.1080.01480545.2018.1510416 (2019).
Kobylewski, S. & Jacobson, M. F. Toxicology of food dyes. Inter. J. Occupat. Environ. Health 18, 220–246 (2012).
Radwan, S. A., El-Sayed, A. R., Al-Shinnawy, M. S. & Mohamed, O. N. A. Hematological and biochemical changes induced by amaranth impact on male albino rats. Egypt J. Hospital Med. 40, 335–349 (2010).
Kusic, H., Juretic, D., Koprivanac, N., Marin, V. & Božic, A. L. Photooxidation processes for an azo dye in aqueous media: Modeling of degradation kinetic and ecological parameters evaluation. J. Hazard. Mat. 185, 1558–1568 (2011).
Committee on Food Chemicals Codex. Food Chemicals Codex. Fifth edition. National Academy Press, Washington DC, p. 463 (2003).
Wood, R., Foster, L., Damant, A. & Key, P. in Analytical Methods for Food Additives, 1–14 (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2004).
EFSA European Food Safety Authority. Scientific opinion on the re-evaluation of sunset yellow FCF (E110) as a food additive. EFSA panel on food additives and nutrient sources added to food (ANS). EFSA Journal, Parma, pp. 1330 (2009).
Kus, E. & Eroglu, H. E. Genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of sunset yellow and brilliant blue, colorant food additives, on human blood lymphocytes. Pak. J. Pharm. Sci. 28, 227–230 (2015).
Bhattacharjee, M. Evaluation of mitodepressive effect of sunset yellow using Allium sativum assay. Inter. J. Sci. Environ. Technol. 3, 1120–1130 (2014).
Dwivedi, K. & Kumar, G. Genetic damage induced by a food coloring dye (sunset yellow) on meristematic cells of Brassica campestris L. J. Environ. Public Health. Article ID 319727, http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/319 727 (2015).
Paumgartten, F. J. R. et al. Evaluation of the developmental toxicity of annatto in the rat. Food Chem. Toxicol. 40, 1595–1601 (2002).
Kitamura, Y. et al. A subchronic toxicity study of shea nut color in Wister rats. Food Chem. Toxicol. 41, 1537–1542.(2003).
Bautista, A. R. P. L., Moreira, E. L. T., Batista, M. S., Miranda, M. S. & Gomes, I. C. S. Subacute toxicity assessment of annatto in rat. Food Chem. Toxicol. 42, 625–629 (2004).
Attia, Z. I., Basyuni, M. A., Hegazi, M. A. & Okba, S. G. Effect of benzene sulfonic acid, the degraded derivative of the sunset yellow beverages, coloring dyes on the physiology and growth rate of young rats. Egypt. J. Zool. 45, 373–387 (2005).
Bordagaray, A., Garcia-Arrona, R., Vidal, M. & Ostra, M. Determination of food colorants in a wide variety of food matrices by microemulsion electrokinetic capillary chromatography. Considerations on the found concentrations and regulated consumption limits. Food Chem. 262, 129–133 (2018).
Mathiyalagan, S., Mandal, B. K. & Ling, Y. C. Determination of synthetic and natural colorants in selected green colored foodstuffs through reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography. Food Chem. 278, 381–387 (2019).
Sasaki, Y. F. et al. The Comet assay with 8 mouse organs: results with 39 currently used food additives. Mut. Res. Gene. Toxicol. Environ. Mutagen. 519, 103–119 (2002).
Shimada, C., Kiyoshi, K., Sasaki, Yu. F., Sato, I. & Tsuda, S. Differential colon DNA damage induced by azo food additives between rats and mice. J. Toxicol. Sci. 35, 547–554 (2010).
Sayed, H. M., Fouad, D., Ataya, F. S., Hassanf, N. H. A. & Fahmy, M. A. The modifying effect of selenium and vitamins A, C, and E on the genotoxicity induced by sunset yellow in male mice. Mut. Res. 744, 145–153 (2012).
Seetaramaiah, K., Anton Smith, A., Murali, R. & Manavalan, R. Preservatives in food products-review. Inter. J. Pharma. Biol. Arch. 2, 583–599 (2011).
Gülçin, I. Antioxidant activity of food constituents: an overview. Arch. Toxicol. 86, 345–391 (2012).
Gülçin, I., Elmastas, M. & Aboul-Eneinc, H. Y. Antioxidant activity of clove oil-A powerful antioxidant source. Arab. J. Chem. 5, 489–499 (2012).
Gülçin, I. & Beydemir, S. Phenolic compounds as antioxidants: carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes inhibitors. Mini Rev. Med. Chem. 13, 408–430 (2013).
Abdulmumeen, H. A., Risikat, A. N. & Sururah, A. R. Food: Its preservatives, additives and applications. IJCBS 1, 36–47 (2012).
Bursal, E., Köksal, E., Gülçin, I., Bilsel, G. & Gören, A. C. Antioxidant activity and polyphenol content of cherry stem (Cerasus avium L.) determined by LC-MS/MS. Food Res. Inter. 51, 66–74 (2013).
Köse, L. P. et al. LC-MS/MS analysis, antioxidant and anticholinergic properties of galanga (Alpinia officinarum Hance) rhizomes. Ind. Crops Prod. 74, 712–721 (2015).
Tohma, H. et al. Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) determined by HPLC-MS/MS. Food Meas. 11, 556–566 (2017).
Lennerz, B. S. et al. Effects of sodium benzoate, a widely used food preservative, on glucose homeostasis and metabolic profiles in humans. Mol. Gene. Metabol. 114, 73–79 (2015).
Zengin, N., Yüzbasioḡlu, D., Ünal, F., Yilmaz, S. & Aksoy, H. The evaluation of the genotoxicity of two food preservatives: Sodium benzoate and potassium benzoate. Food Chem. Toxicol. 49, 763–769 (2011).
Prival, J. M., Simmon, F. V. & Mortelmans, E. K. Bacterial mutagenicity testing of 49 food ingredients gives very few positive results. Mut. Res. 260, 321–329 (1991).
Ishidate, M. et al. Primary mutagenicity screening of food additives currently used in Japan. Food Chem. Toxicol. 22, 623–636 (1984).
Xing, W. & Zhang, Z. A comparison of SCE test in human lymphocytes and Vicia faba: a hopeful technique using plants to detect mutagens and carcinogens. Mut. Res. 241, 109–113 (1990).
Türkoglu, S. Genotoxicity of five food preservatives tested on root tips of Allium cepa L. Mut. Res. 626, 4–14.(1990).
Mpountoukas, P., Vantarakis, A., Sivridis, E. & Lialiaris, T. Cytogenetic study in cultured human lymphocytes treated with three commonly used preservatives. Food Chem. Toxicol. 46, 2390–2393 (2008).
Demir, E., Kocaoglu, S. & Kaya, B. Assessment of genotoxic effects of benzyl derivatives by the Comet assay. Food Chem. Toxicol. 48, 1239–1242 (2010).
Uçar, A., Yilmaz, S., Yilmaz, S. & Kiliç, M. S. A research on the genotoxicity of stevia in human lymphocytes. Drug Chem. Toxicol. 41, 221–224 (2017).
Vijayan, V. & Mazumder, A. In vitro inhibition of food borne mutagens induced mutagenicity by cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia) bark extract. Drug Chem. Toxicol. 41, 385–393 (2018).
Kaslow, J. E. Red blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, MCV, MCH, MCHC, platelet count, and random distribution of width, http://www.drkaslow.com/html/blood_cell_counts.html (2015).
Knezevich, A. L. & Hogan, G. K. A long-term oral toxicity/carcinogenicity study of green No. 3 in rats. The 29 h meeting of the joint FAO/WHO Expert on food additives committee, University Press Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (1981).
Sharma, A., Goyal, R. P., Chakravarty, G. & Sharma, S. Haemotoxic effect of chocolate brown, a commonly used blend of permitted food colour on Swiss albino mice. Asian J. Exper. Sci. 19, 93–103 (2005).
Sharma, A., Goyal, R. P., Chakravarty, G. & Sharma, S. Orange-red a permitted food colors induced hematological changes in albino mice, Mus musculus. Bull. Pure App. Sci. 24A, 99–103 (2005).
Sharma, S. D. & Iqbal, M. Lithium induced toxicity in rats: A hematological, biochemical and histopathological study. Biol. Pharm. Bull. 28, 834–837 (2005).
Sharma, S., Goyal, R. P., Chakravarty, G. & Sharma, A. Hematological and serological changes in the blood of albino mice, Mus Musculus. Ind. J. Environ. Sci. 10, 145–148 (2006).
Chakravarty, G., Goyal, R. P., Sharma, S. & Sharma, A. Hematological changes induced by a common non-permitted food colour, malachite green (MG) in Swiss albino mice. Ind. J. Environ. Sci. 9, 113–117 (2005).
Ashour, A. A. & Abdel-Aziz, I. Role of fast green on the blood of rats and the therapeutic action of vitamins C or E. Inter. J. Integ. Biol. 6, 6–11 (2009).
Khanna, S. K., Singh, G. B. & Singh, S. B. Non-permitted colours in food and their toxicity. J. Food Sci. Technol. 10, 33–36 (1973).
Lee, G. R. et al. Wintrobe’s Clinical Hematology (10th ed.), Baltimore, Maryland. Williams and Wilkins, Waverly Company (1998).
Helal, E. G. E. et al. Biochemical studies on the effect of ponceau 4r and/or vitamin E treatment on young male albino rats. Egypt. J. Hosp. Med. 31, 233–243 (2008).
Robert, A. & Budinsky, J. R. in Principles of Toxicology, Environmental and Industrial Applications. Hematotoxicity: Chemically Induced Toxicity of the Blood (eds Williams, P. L., James, R. C. & Roberts, S. M.) 87–110 (Wiley-Interscience Publication, New York, 2000).
Hashem, M. M., Atta, A. H., Arbid, M. S., Somaia, A. N. M. & Gihan, F. A. Immunological studies on amaranth, sunset yellow and curcumin as food coloring agents in albino rats. Food Chem. Toxicol. 48, 1581–1586 (2010).
Himri, I. et al. A 90-day oral toxicity of tartrazine, a synthetic food dye, in rats. Inter. J. Pharm. Pharm. Sci. 3, 159–169 (2011).
Aboel-Zahab, H. et al. Physiological effects of some synthetic food colouring additives on rats. Bollettino Chimico Farmaceutico 136, 615–627 (1997).
Ching, F. P., Akpan, J. O., Ekpo, M. D. & Ekanem, J. A. Acute in-vivo histological effect of food colorants on some rat tissues. Global J. Pure Appl. Sci. 11, 241–247 (2005).
Sarkar, R. & Ghosh, A. R. Metanil yellow an azo dye induced histopathological and ultrastructural changes in albino rat (Rattus norvegicus). The Bioscan 7, 427–432 (2012).
Khidr, B. M., Makhlouf, M. M. & Ahmed, S. M. M. Histological and ultrastructural study on the effect of sodium benzoate on the liver of adult male albino rats. Assiut Univ. J. Zoo. 41, 11–39 (2012).
El-Shamy, K. I., Khadr, M. E., Morsy, F. A. & Hassanin, M. M. Toxic effect of some food additives on the vital activities of albino rats: green colour (tartrazine and brilliant blue). Egypt. J. Zoo. 32, 417–440 (1999).
Elwi, M. A., Saleh, A. S. & Kamel, A. I. in Textbook of Pathology. Necrosis, 31–46 (El-Naser Modern Bookshop, Cairo, Egypt, 1973).
El-Banhawy, M. A. & Ganzuri, M. A. Pathological effects of insecticides on acid phosphatase containing particles in mammalian liver cells. Proc. Egypt Soc. Environ. Sci. 55–70 (1980).
Popper, H. & Kent, G. Fibrosis in chronic liver disease. Clinical Gastroenterol. 4, 315–332 (1975).
Svegliati Baroni, G. et al. Fibrogenic effect of oxidative stress on rat hepatic stellate cells. Hepatol. 27, 720–726 (1998).
Bakar, E. & Aktaç, T. Effects of sodium benzoate and citric acid on serum, liver and kidney tissue total sialic acid levels: an ultrastructural study. J. Appl. Biol. Sci. 8, 9–15 (2014).
Itokawa, Y., Abe, T., Tabei, R. & Tanaka, S. Renal and skeletal lesions in experimental cadmium poisoning. Arch. Environ. Health 28, 149–154 (1974).
Gerundo, N., Alderman, D. J., Clifton-Hadely, R. S. & Feist, S. W. Pathological effects of repeated doses of malachite green. A preliminary study. J. Fish Diseases 14, 20–29 (1991).
Hook, J. B. in Toxic Response of the Kidney. Casarett and Doull’s Toxicology. The Basic Science of Poisons (2nd ed.) 237 (Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, 1975.
Jones, D. B. in Kidneys. Anderson’s Pathology (ed Kissane, J. M.) 730 (The C.V. Mosby Company, St. Louis, MO, 1985).
Cameron, G. R. in Pathology of the Cell (Edinburgh & London, Oliver and Boyd, 1952).
FAO/WHO. Safety evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants, seventy-third meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, WHO Technical Report Series, No. 966, Geneva (2011).
European Food Safety Authority. Scientific opinion on the re-evaluation of sunset yellow as a food additive on request from the European Commission: Question No EFSA-Q-2008-224. European Food Safety Authority. The EFSA Journal; No. 1330. 10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1330 (2009).
Drabkin, D. L. & Austin, J. M. Spectrophotometric studies, spectrophotometric constants for common hemoglobin derivatives in human, dog and rabbit blood. J. Biol. Chem. 98, 719–733 (1932).
Dacie, J. V. & Lewis, S. M. in Practical Hematology, 37–113 (Churchill Living Stone, UK, 1993).
Becton-Dickinson. in Unopette WBC/Platelet Determination for Manual Method (Rutherford, N. J., Becton, Dickinson, 1996).
Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute. Procedure for determining packed cell volume by the microhematocrit method; approved standard (3rd). CLSI document H7-A3 (ISBN 1-56238-413-9). CLSI, 940 West Valley Road, Suite 1400, Wayne, Pennsylvania, 19087-1898, USA (2000).
Bancroft, J. D. & Stevens, A. in Theory and Practice of Histological Techniqu (4th ed.) 41–60 (Churchill living stone, Melbourne, New York, USA, 1982).
SPSS. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) User’s Guide: Statistics. Version 12, Chicago, U. S. A SPSS Inc (2003).
Acknowledgements
Publication of this article was co-sponsored by the ToxEHS.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ali, M.Y., Hassan, A.M.S., Mohamed, Z.A. et al. Effect of Food Colorants and Additives on the Hematological and Histological Characteristics of Albino Rats. Toxicol. Environ. Health Sci. 11, 155–167 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13530-019-0400-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13530-019-0400-x