Food colours are routinely added to foods and beverages for a variety of reasons, including to compensate for the loss of natural colour caused by processing conditions, and to meet consumer expectations by making the food more appealing and appetizing by enhancing the colour or making it more uniform.
This targeted survey generated further baseline surveillance data on the occurrence of food colours in domestic and imported products on the Canadian market. A total of 399 samples of essences/flavourings, oils, sweets, and processed vegetables were collected and tested for up to 43 different food colour additives. Artificial food colours were not detected in 218 (55%) of the samples tested. Food colours at levels exceeding the maximum level of use were detected in 3 of the samples. A non-permitted food colour was found in 1 sample, and only 1 sample contained permitted food colours/levels without a declaration of use in the list of ingredients. When compared to previous survey years, these results show a similar detection rate and compliance (98.7%) rate.