10 - Toxicology and Analytical Methods for the Analysis of Allura Red (E129) in Food and Beverage Products: A Current Perspective

Abstract

Allura Red (E129) is a synthetic azo dye, water soluble, and dark red in color. The application of Allura Red in food industry is widely used in drinks, juices, bakery, meat, and sweets products, which causes some adverse effects of human health including food intolerance, allergies, cancer, multiple sclerosis, asthma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, brain damage, nausea, and cardiac disease due to the reaction of aromatic azo compounds (RR′=aromatic). It has been potentially known to cause undesirable effects toward living organisms where Allura Red can induce genotoxicity to the tested mice when administered in a large amount. Thus, some countries have banned and strictly controlled the uses of Allura Red in food and beverage products. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has proposed an acceptable daily intake of Allura Red from 0 to 7mg/kg body weight. This chapter elaborates the current available methods of extraction and analytical that has been applied to monitor the presence of Allura Red in our daily food and beverage products, and also briefly discusses the acceptable daily intake and toxicology.