Dr. Hüseyin Kâmi BÜYÜKÖZER
Eating is a fundamental element of human life, providing nourishment and sustenance. Beyond its nutritional value, it is an experience that engages all our senses. The color of food creates expectations even before we even put it in our mouths. It is the first sensory cue that creates expectations about taste and flavor, which influences appetite.
We eat with our eyes first. From childhood, we are color-conditioned to believe that chocolate is brown, bananas and lemons are yellow, strawberries and tomato sauce are red, and so on. Experiments have shown that foods with unnatural colors are completely rejected. After all, no matter how nutritious and safe they are, who wants a breakfast of red scrambled eggs, purple beans, green potato chips, yellow salami slices, and blue toast?
Many foods appear colorless or have a pale, less vibrant color before coloring is added. Some examples include:
Tomato juice is usually clear or slightly pale before lycopene, a natural pigment that gives it its characteristic red color, is added.
Turmeric, used as a yellow colorant, is initially pale beige or off-white before being added to dishes.
Caramel color, used to give foods such as some baked goods a brown color, is made from heated sugar. The sugar is initially white before being heated.
Annatto, a natural orange-red food coloring, is obtained from the seeds of the achiote tree. These seeds are initially pale beige or tan.
Some salad dressings. Many salad dressings, especially those containing artificial colorings for visual appeal, would be much lighter or translucent without them.
The Background of Colors in Food
Artificially coloring products has been a practice throughout human history, dating back to the Egyptians around 1500 BC.
Food coloring is derived from both synthetic and natural sources, including plants, animals, and minerals. It is available in many forms, including liquids, powders, gels, and pastes. Chemical dyes are typically coal- or petroleum-based and artificially mixed in laboratories. Both synthetic and natural dyes and their production processes can contain haram ingredients.
The Challenge of Halal Compliance
Consuming halal foods and avoiding haram foods is a fundamental requirement of our faith. However, navigating the complex world of food production and labeling can be challenging. Food products often contain numerous ingredients, some of which may not be clearly identified on labels. For example, E120, a natural colorant derived from the cochineal insect, is not considered halal by GIMDES, which may not be immediately obvious.
This complexity is further compounded by the fact that ingredient manufacturers maintain proprietary formulas and processes. When meeting legal labeling requirements, it is essential that every detail be fully disclosed so that consumers can make fully informed decisions about a product’s Halal status.
Food coloring regulations vary from country to country. Different countries have different labeling, naming, and identification requirements, making it difficult to know how to classify certain colorants. While some colors are banned in some countries, they are still used in others. These bans highlight the importance of local Halal certification to ensure compliance with regional regulations and consumer safety.
Health Hazards and Violations of Faith
Whether natural or synthetic, food colorings can pose health risks, especially to those with allergies. Some food colorings are known to cause allergic reactions and other health problems such as asthma and hypersensitivity. For Muslims, unintentionally consuming forbidden substances due to unclear labels or lack of disclosure of ingredients is not only a health risk but also a risk to one’s faith.
Peace of Mind and Body
The safest option for Muslim consumers to ensure the Halal status of food products is to rely on independent third-party certification from trusted, government-accredited authorities. Given the ever-growing and evolving global Halal market, this importance cannot be underestimated.
GIMDES conducts tests and utilizes accredited scientific laboratories for these tests.
Our 20-year history of service and expertise in Halal certification provides assurance that certified products meet the highest standards of Halal integrity.
