Brilliant Blue FCF

"Blue 1" redirects here. For the airline, see Blue1. Brilliant Blue FCF, also known under commercial names, is a colorant for foods and other substances to induce a color change. It is denoted by E number E133 and has a color index of 42090. It has the appearance of a reddish-blue powder. It is soluble in water, and the solution has a maximum absorption at about 630 nanometer.

Chemistry

It is a synthetic dye derived from coal tar. It can be combined with tartrazine (E102) to produce various shades of green.

It is usually a disodium salt. The diammonium salt has CAS number . Calcium and potassium salts are also permitted. It can also appear as an aluminium lake.

The chemical formation is C₃₇H₃₄N₂Na₂O₉S₃. The dye is poorly absorbed from the gastro-intestinal tract and 95% of the absorbed dye can be found in the feces.

It is also thought to react with certain bile pigments to form green feces.

Applications

As a blue color, Brilliant Blue FCF is often found in ice cream, tinned processed peas, dairy products, sweets, and drinks. It is also used in soaps, shampoos, and other hygiene and cosmetics applications. In soil science, Brilliant Blue is applied in tracing studies to visualize infiltration and water distribution in the soil.

Health and safety

It has previously been banned in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland among others but has been certified as a safe food additive in the EU and is today unbanned in most of the countries. In the United States production exceeds 1 million pounds annually, and daily consumption is around 16 mg per person.

It has the capacity for inducing an allergic reaction.

It is one of the colorants that the Hyperactive Children's Support Group and the Feingold Association recommend to be eliminated from the diet of children. The National Institutes of Health concluded that color additives do not cause hyperactivity.

References

• W. H. Hansen; O. G. Fitzhugh, A. A. Nelson, K. J. Davis (1966). "Chronic toxicity of two food colors, Brilliant Blue FCF and Indigotine". Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 8 (1): 29–36.
• J. F. Borzelleca; K. Depukat, J. B. Hallagan (1990). "Lifetime toxicity/carcinogenicity studies of FD & C blue No. 1 (Brilliant blue FCF) in rats and mice". Food and Chemical Toxicology 28 (4): 221–235.
• J. P. Brown; A. Dorsky, F. E. Enderlin, R. L. Hale, V. A. Wright, T. M. Parkinson (1980). "Synthesis of ¹⁴C-labelled FD & C blue no. 1 (brilliant blue FCF) and its intestinal absorption and metabolic fate in rats". Food and Cosmetics Toxicology 18 (1): 1–5.

External links

• The Chemistry of Colors
• FDA Public Health Advisory on use in enteral feeding
• The Hyperactive Children's Support Group
• The Feingold Association
• The Feingold Diet; Dubious Benefits, Subtle Risks
• Some more details, other common names