10 COAL-TAR COLORS USED IN FOOD PRODUCTS. 



In order to avoid any uncertainty as to the chemical composition 

 of the enumerated colors, direct reference is made in Food Inspection 

 Decision No. 76 to a standard work in which such chemical composil 

 tion is clearly and unequivocally set forth. The relevant parts o.l 

 Food Inspection Decision No. 76 are as follows: 



The use of any dye, harmless or otherwise, to color or stain a food in a manner whereb J 

 damage or inferiority is concealed is specifically prohibited by law. The use in foo<| 

 for any purpose of any mineral dye or any coal-tar dye, except those coal-tar dye] 

 hereinafter listed, will be grounds for prosecution. Pending further investigation! 

 now under way and the announcement thereof, the coal-tar dyes hereinafter named 

 made specifically for use in foods, and which bear a guaranty from the manufacture 

 that they are free from subsidiary products and represent the actual substance thj 

 name of which they bear, may be used in foods. In every case a certificate that thj 

 dye in question has been tested by competent experts and found to be free froc 

 harmful constituents must be filed with the Secretary of Agriculture and approval 

 by him. 



The following coal-tar dyes which may be used in this manner are given numbers 

 the numbers preceding the names referring to the number of the dye in question a 

 listed in A. G. Green's edition of the Schultz-Julius Systematic Survey of the Oi 

 ganic Coloring Matters, published in 1904. 



The list is as follows: 



Red shades: 107. Amaranth. 56. Ponceau 3 R. 517. Erythrosin. 



Orange shade: 85. Orange I. 



Yellow shade: 4. Naphthol Yellow S. 



Green shade: 435. Light Green S F Yellowish. 



Blue shade: 692. Indigo disulfoacid. 



Each of these colors shall be free from any coloring matter other than the on 

 specified and shall not contain any contamination due to imperfect or incomplet 

 manufacture. 



The reasons, broadly considered, which led up to these food inspec 

 tion decisions are given in concise fashion in this introduction. 



Looking over the restrictions placed upon coal-tar colors by th 

 lawmakers of the various countries it will be found that certaii 

 colors are in some instances specifically prohibited and in othe 

 instances that certain specific colors, or classes of colors, and onh 

 such, are permitted for the legitimate purposes of food coloring. 



Private organizations, such as the Swiss Society of Analytica 

 Chemists and the National Confectioners 7 Association in the Unite 

 States, have also made recommendations permitting specific color 

 only, and in addition specifically prohibiting others. Individua 

 authors have likewise made similar recommendations. The contrc 

 of the quality of the food colors practiced on the part of those Gov 

 ernments which restrict the use of coal-tar colors to certain indivic 

 uals, so far as any publications show, has not been very extensive. 



The action taken against the use of coal-tar colors for food-colorin 

 purposes has ranged all the way from absolute prohibition of thei 

 use for any purpose whatsoever to the practically unlimited use ii 

 legitimate food coloring operations of all but two of such colors 



