HC Deb 25 July 1960 vol 627 cc86-7W
Dr. Stross

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will list in HANSARD the dyes used in colouring foodstuffs, stating which of them are derived from coal tar; and if he will also list those which were in use and are now forbidden, and give the reason for refusing to allow their use any longer.

Mr. Hare

The colours which may be used in colouring foods are shown in the 1st Schedule to the Colouring Matter in Food Regulations, 1957, and are as follows:

Coal Tar Colours Ponceau MX, Ponceau 4R, Carmoisine, Amaranth, Red 10B, Erythrosine BS, Red 2G, Red 6B, Red FB, Ponceau SX, Ponceau 3R, Fast Red E, Orange G, Orange RN, Oil Yellow GO, Tartrazine, Naphthol Yellow S, Yellow 2G, Yellow RFS, Yellow RY, Sunset Yellow FCF, Oil Yellow XP, Green S, Blue VRS. Indigo Carmine, Violet BNP, Brown FK, Chocolate Brown FB, Chocolate Brown HT. Black PN.

Other Colours

  1. 1. Caramel and the colour obtained from cochineal.
  2. 2. The following colouring matters of vegetable origin—any colouring matter natural to edible fruits or vegetables and alkannet, annatto, carotene, chlorophyll, flavine, indigo, orchil, osage orange, persian berry, safflower, saffron, sandalwood, turmeric, or their pure colouring principles whether isolated from such natural colours or produced synthetically.
  3. 3. Bole or iron oxide, carbon black, titanium dioxide, ultramarine and, solely for the external colouring of dragees and the decoration of sugar-coated flour confectionery, saver or aluminium in leaf or powder form.
  4. 4. The aluminium or calcium salts (lakes) or any of the scheduled water-soluble colours.

Before these Regulations were made, any colour, except for a small number specifically prohibited by the Public Health (Preservatives etc. in Food) Regulations, could be used in foods (other than milk). It is not known how many colours were used in food before 1957. The Food Standards Committee confined itself to examination of 98 colours submitted by the food industry and the chemical manufacturers; these are listed in Appendix II of the Committee's Report on Colouring Matters (H.M.S.O. 1954) and paragraph 14 of the Committee's Supplementary Report on Colouring Matters (H.M.S.O. 1955). The grounds on which the Committee recommended some of these colours as suitable for use in food, and rejected others, are explained in the Committee's Report, and I cannot add to this. The Government has accepted the Committee's recommendation that the permitted list should be reviewed after 5 years.