Is Caramel Coloring in Sodas and Syrup Dangerous?

You've had to be brave to eat breakfast in the past decade--especially if you've been following the media's food safety reports.  Perhaps you were persuaded to give up eggs and switch to indisputably healthful oatmeal. But what about that non-stick pot you cook your hot cereal in? Does it give off harmful chemicals?  Then, there's talk of possible danger from your sweetener of choice: too much sugar can make you fat and therefore susceptible to diabetes or heart disease. Aspartame has been accused of being cancer-causing, so maybe you've switched to sweetening with artificial maple syrup. But beware of the latest scare!  That caramel coloring in the syrup could also be a carcinogen. What's the story on this latest breakfast menace?

Perhaps the 4-MEI scare related to caramel coloring will go the way of numerous other alarming predictions. Today, many scientists say eating one egg a day is not harmful, and nonstick pots and pans, if used properly, aren't either. Furthermore, a recent study has concluded that aspartame is safe. That still leaves us with 4-MEI in caramel coloring to worry about. We could be consuming it with every meal and snack since it's in many soft drinks and other edible products.

What is 4-MEI (4-methylimidazole)?

Let's begin with what the FDA says 4-MEI is not.  It is NOT an ingredient directly added to food.  It is a chemical compound that's by-product formed during a normal cooking process.  For example, it's formed as "a trace impurity during the manufacturing of certain types of caramel coloring (known as Class III and Class IV caramel coloring)." These form not only in colas but also in many other foods. 

Food process engineer Dr. Tim Bowser has supplied us with more detail about the formation of 4-MEI. "Many caramel colors are food-based; made from sweeteners like fructose, glucose, sucrose, malt syrup, and molasses. A typical process to make caramel coloring includes heating the sweetener and sometimes adding an acid or a salt. The salt or acid helps to make the color more stable in certain foods like soft drinks. It has been reported that a carcinogenic chemical, 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI), may be found in caramel coloring that has been processed with an ammonia salt."

What foods can 4-MEI be found in?

Syrup (the imitation maple syrup commonly used on pancakes and waffles), sauces (such as soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, gravy, and barbecue sauce), baked goods, soups, canned mushrooms, beer, roasted coffee beans, and even grilled meat may contain 4-MEI.  Caramel coloring is the most common type of food coloring used world-wide.  Not all caramel coloring contains 4-MEI, but most of it does. According to the research team at Wolters Kluwer Law and Business, 4-MEI is in about 70% of the caramel coloring used throughout the world.

What did a Consumer Reports study discover about the presence of 4-MEI (4-methylimidazole) in the soft drinks it tested?

From April-December 2013, Consumer Reports tested 81 cans and bottles of soft drinks (12 oz. sizes) from 5 different manufacturers. The products were purchased in New York and California.  Those that exceeded 29 micrograms per serving of 4-MEI were purchased and retested in December. The following products contained the highest 4-MEI levels: Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi One, Malta Goya (a malt-flavored soda popular in Latin American communities), and 365 Everyday Value Dr. Snap regular.  The lowest levels were in found in 3 types of Coca-Cola: Diet Coke, Coke Zero, and regular Coke. 

Consumer Reports explains how the 29 micrograms per day became the cut-off: "The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment used 29 micrograms as the cut-off point because that’s the level they determined poses a one in 100,000 risk of cancer—that is, no more than one excess cancer case per 100,000 people who are exposed to that amount daily for a lifetime."

Class I and II caramel coloring does not contain 4-MEI.  

Some food and beverage manufacturers have already reduced or even removed 4-MEI from their product. 

What evidence is there that 4-MEI is harmful?

In 2011, The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that 4-MeI is "possibly carcinogenic to humans."  This conclusion was based upon studies conducted on rodents.

California law requires a warning label on any food or beverage that exposes consumers to more than 29 micrograms of 4-MEI per day.  Some colas on the market today (such as Coke, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero) have less than 5 micrograms per 12 oz. container.  In California, some that exceed 29 micrograms on a 12 oz. serving do not have the warning label.

On the other hand, the website the Salt quotes an FDA spokesman as saying, "A consumer would have to consume well over a thousand cans of soda a day to reach the doses administered in the studies that have shown links to cancer in rodents."  The site goes on to say,  "Outside of California, no regulatory  agency concerned with protecting the public's health has stated that 4-MI is a human carcinogen." 

What is the FDA's position on 4-MEI?

Here's an FDA statement on the matter: "The FDA has no reason to believe that there is any immediate or short-term danger presented by 4-MEI at the levels expected in food from the use of caramel coloring."  The FDA says that studies on rodents regarding the carcinogenicity of 4-MEI were either inconclusive or the levels of the by-product given to the animals "far exceeded estimates of human exposure."

It's "virtually impossible" to eliminate 4-MEI from all food products, says the FDA.  However, several companies have reduced the amount, and some have eliminated it entirely. 

The FDA has promised to do a safety analysis--to review and reassess the research, take a closer look at the problem, and perhaps consider setting an upper limit on 4-MEI content in food and beverages (as California has done). 

How can consumers tell if the products they're buying contain 4-MEI?

They have to make an assumption.  All foods containing color additives must have some indication of their presence in the ingredients statement. Caramel coloring might be listed simply as "artificial color" or as "caramel coloring."  But remember that not all caramel coloring contains 4-MEI.  There is no requirement that the presence of 4-MEI be listed on products as a Class III or IV caramel coloring or as 4-MEI.

What should consumers do in response to this possible health risk?

At this point, nothing, according to the FDA.  Until its review of the matter is complete, "the FDA is not recommending that consumers change their diets because of concerns about 4-MEI."

However, the April 2014 issue of ShopSmart, a Consumer Reports publication says this: "So how worried should you be? That depends on how much soda you drink--and how many other products with caramel coloring you consume daily. The safest thing to do is to cut back on products that contain caramel coloring." 

All this concern about brown foods and beverages made your Shelf Life Advice editor nervous about the brown sugar I generously toss on my cereal every morning. The package ingredient list said it contained only brown sugar, but I was skeptical, so I called the Domino customer service line. I was told that the product contains no coloring. Brown sugar is brown because of the molasses in it. Since molasses is a natural part of sugar, it's not listed as an ingredient.  My brown sugar is just brown sugar, and it perks up the taste of bland hot cereal just as well as syrup.

What's our advice? We side with Consumer Report's ShopSmart.  Why not cut down on foods with caramel coloring, especially colas?  They're not the most nutritious beverages you can choose anyway.

If you're concerned about the amount and type of  caramel coloring in a particular product, you might be able to get information from the manufacturer by calling customer service (A phone number should be on the container.) or by checking for company's website ("Contact us") for an email address or phone number. 

Source(s):

consumerreports.org "Caramel color: The health risk that may be in your soda"

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/01/caramel-color-the-health-risk-that-may-be-in-your-soda/index.htm

Consumer Reports ShopSmart, "Health news: A hidden risk in popular drinks" April 2014.

fda.gov "Questions and Answers on Caramel Coloring and 4-MEI"

http://www.fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/foodadditivesingredients/ucm364184.htm

www.livescience.com "Eggs Don't Deserve Their Bad Reputation, Studies Show"

http://www.livescience.com/39353-eggs-dont-deserve-bad-reputation.html

ShelfLifeAdvice.com "Are Nonstick Coatings on Cookware a Health Risk?"

http://shelflifeadvice.com/content/are-nonstick-coatings-cookware-health-risk-0

reuters.com "EU food safety body sees no new health risk from aspartame"

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/10/holdeu-sweetener-idUSL6N0JO2VP20131210

health.wolterskluwerib.com "Chemical in Caramel Coloring Could Cause Cancer"

http://health.wolterskluwerlb.com/2014/01/chemical-in-caramel-coloring-could-cause-cancer/

motherjones.com "These 11 Popular Sodas Tested Positive for a Potential Carcinogen"

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/01/sodas-contain-caramel-colored-carcinogen-4-mei

foodsafetynews.com "Consumer Reports Study Prompts FDA to Reexamine Caramel Coloring"

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2014/01/fda-to-reexamine-caramel-coloring-in-sodas-due-to-impurity/ - .Uzt0XtwVfRp

npr.org  "Coca-Cola Modifies Caramel Color to Avoid Cancer Warning Label"

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/03/07/148075310/coca-cola-modifies-caramel-color-to-avoid-cancer-warning-label

Timothy J. Bowser, Ph.D. , Oklahoma State University, Dept. of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering