In 2007, South Hamptom University conducted a study, they found that E110 is linked to attention deficit in children. Hyperactivity disorder was seen in children. After this research study, the food standards agency of the UK, started paying attention to this issue the next year, 2008.
They recommended to the government that artificial colors need to be banned from food. They tried to extend this ban to the European Union. In 2010, this regulation was brought into the European Union that if artificial colors are found in any products, the companies would have to put up labels stating that, ‘it may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children’.
After this, several companies stopped using them. But only in the European Union, because of the regulations imposed there. Once again, in countries where these regulations didn’t exist, the companies keep exploiting the rules, or lack thereof and continue using the same ingredients.
In India, if you turn the bottle of Mirinda, you will find this written. Contains permitted synthetic food colour, and in the bracket, there’s ‘110’. As I told you, 110 is the code name of Sunset Yellow FCF.
The companies are very cunning. They spend money to fight court cases in each country. According to the official website of PepsiCo, they have spent $3.6 million in America, for Lobbying related activities. In case you don’t know about lobbying, in our opinion, it is basically legalized corruption.
In countries like America, it is legal for companies to pay the political parties so that the political parties pass judgements and rulings in their favor. These companies are concerned about their profits. Not about the health of people.
In countries where there are no regulations, they keep selling cheaper, cancer-causing products and no one cares. Even now in 2022, there are no such regulations in India for E110. You will find it in many picketed food items.
