While ingesting small amounts of Red Dye 40 seems unlikely to affect overall health, a growing body of research suggests it may be connected with a number of issues.
Behavioral Issues in Children
Some research has linked Red 40 to increased hyperactivity and behavioral changes in some children, particularly those diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), potentially worsening symptoms like difficulty sitting still, excessive talking, anxiety, moodiness, and irritability.
Countries in the European Union require foods containing Red 40 and other synthetic dyes to carry a warning saying that these products “may have an adverse effect on activity and behavior in children.”
“There’s pretty good evidence at this point indicating a small but significant deleterious effect of Red 40 on the behavior of most children,” says L. Eugene Arnold, MD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at the Ohio State University, who has conducted research on this topic.
Trials in Britain have linked juices containing dye to a small but significant rise in hyperactivity in children, with or without ADHD.
A review of 27 studies looking at artificial dyes, including Red 40, concluded that evidence “supports a relationship between food dye exposure and adverse behavioral outcomes in children.”
Allergic Reactions
According to Dr. Arnold, research has identified three genes that may direct the body’s reaction to synthetic dyes. One gene is involved in the synthesis of dopamine, a molecule that promotes focus and impulse control; the two other genes are involved in the synthesis of histamine, a molecule that promotes alertness.
Too much histamine, however, can bring on allergy symptoms.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest says that Red 40 may trigger allergic reactions in some people, causing hives and facial swelling.
Cancer
“Red Dye 40 is generally considered safer than the now-banned Red Dye 3, since it has not been shown to cause cancer in animals like Red 3 did with thyroid tumors,” says Lorne Hofseth, PhD, an associate dean for research with the Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences College of Pharmacy at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, who has conducted extensive research on artificial dyes.
Still, it’s known that Red 40 can contain trace amounts of benzene and 4-aminobiphenyl, which are known human carcinogens.
“Concerns about Red 40’s potential for accelerating cancer through DNA damage and inflammatory mechanisms suggest it may not be entirely risk-free,” Dr. Hofseth says.
Hofseth explains that synthetic dyes by their nature have the potential to result in inflammation.
“Synthetic food dyes are, by definition, xenobiotic, or foreign to the body,” he says. “Things that are foreign to the body are going to stimulate an inflammatory immune response and cause damage to cells.” Long-term inflammation and cancer are “intimately” connected, he says.
Hofseth and his collaborators conducted research on mice injected with the equivalent of an “acceptable” human daily intake of Red 40, and observed a low level of inflammation in the rodents’ colons after nine months.
They also looked at human colon cells exposed to Red 40 and saw DNA damage that increased as the dose of Red 40 increased.
Still, a dearth of research involving human subjects makes it difficult to know if results from animal and cell studies predict real-life cancer risk in people.
“The evidence for a cancer connection is suggestive but not conclusive — animal studies and cell research provide ‘pretty good’ evidence, but robust human studies are still needed to confirm the link,” Hofseth says.
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