Corantes alimentícios amaranto, eritrosina B e tartrazina, e seus possíveis efeitos maléficos à saúde humana

Abstract

The use of food dyes in the industry has disseminated in the last decades. Its use has several objectives, from an improvement in the appearance of processed foods, to change the expiration date thereof. Unfortunately, many dyes (particularly the synthetics) have the potential to cause adverse effects in humans. Thus, the aim of this review is to evaluate the potential toxicological, mutagenic and allergic effects of the dyes amaranth, erythrosine B and tartrazine. For the production of this review, the authors performed a search of scientific articles in the PubMed database using the descriptors "Amaranth", "Erythrosine B" and "Tartrazine" associated separately with "Toxicity" "Mutagenicity" and "Allergic”. We included articles published since 2010 to assess the toxic, mutagenic or allergic potential of the dyes investigated in this review. With the above descriptors were identified 300 articles. After inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 articles were selected to support this review. In selected studies, it was observed that the three dyes in general, induce DNA damage, cause changes in cell behavior and affect the body's metabolism from guinea pigs (mainly enzymatic activity, hepatic functions and the levels of plasma proteins). Given the exposed in this review, it is essential that the interactions of dyes with humans are better studied, as well as the application and the legalization of these substances for use in food occur with greater caution.