KCA News & Media
Press Release
Press Release
| Tar color used in some of children’s favorite foods may cause hyperactivity in children | ||||||||
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| Date | 2009-07-09 | Hit | 2960 | |||||
 Some of children’s favorite foods like sweets were found to include significant volume of tar colors that may trigger hyperactivity in children. Also, some of labeling on those foods were found to be poorly managed. In detail, out of 21 products tested, 8 products (38.1%) used tar colorings that are not labeled on package or were labeled under the name of artificial food colorings with uncertain ingredients. The test also found that some of children’s favorite foods used ‘Amaranth’, a red food dye, use of which is banned for children’s favorite foods. According to the test results, the most frequently-used food color was ‘Tartrazine’, a yellow food dye that was warned by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to trigger allergy reactions. Among the tested foods, 86% (43 items) used ‘Tartrazine’.
The results came after the Korea Consumer Agency (President Myung-hee Park, www.kca.go.kr) investigated labeling of 50 favorite foods for children using food coloring agent and tested 21 products.
In line with the enforcement of Special Act on Safety Control for Children’s Dietary Life (March 22, 2009), legislation for standards to ban the use of tar colors for children’s favorite foods was predicted in March, 2009. Although major confectionary companies with large market share are exercising self-restraint not to use tar colors, it was confirmed that those controversial tar colors in terms of safety are still used in products manufactured or imported by small and medium enterprises. Base on these findings, the KCA made a request to related authorities to order a recall procedure for products in violation of labeling standards. Also, the Agency continued to ask the food industry to exercise voluntary restraint not to use tar colors even before the enforcement of the revision standard. Meanwhile, the KCA advised consumers to give a thorough look at labels of children’s favorite foods and try to avoid the products with excessively showy colors when purchasing them. < Reference >
In 2007, the Food Standards Agency in the UK made a request not to use some of food coloring agents for food for children, based on study results that some of artificial food colorings and preservative are fuelling hyperactivity in children.
Hyperactivity is behavior disorder that has a negative impact on learning, memory, physical movement, emotional reaction, and
sleeping patterns.
Among food coloring agents, the Korean Government currently allows the use of tar colors of ‘Tartrazine (yellow food dye)’, ‘Sunset Yellow FCF (yellow food dye)’, ‘Allura Red (red food dye)’, and ‘Ponceau 4R (red food dye)’.
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