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May have less, but it still has some!
Today many news agencies reported that the caramel color in foods might need to be revisited. Why would anyone think that manufactured fake colorants have any adverse effects on our bodies. Hmm, I just don’t know?!
The FDA says it has “no reason to believe” that 4-MeI – an impurity generated during the manufacture of caramel colors III and IV – poses a health risk at current dosage levels, but says it is reviewing new data to determine whether it needs to revise its opinion. As we all know that the FDA has our best interests at heart!
4-MeI (Methylimidazole) is a impurity that is produced when making the caramel color in tonic (Massachusetts for soda or pop). It is also a manufactured compound used to make certain pharmaceuticals, photographic chemicals, dyes and pigments, cleaning and agricultural chemicals, and rubber products. So yeah, let’s all eat this! 
Studies published in 2007 by the federal government’s National Toxicology Program showed that long-term exposure to 4-MEI resulted in increases in lung cancer in male and female mice. These findings were the basis for the addition of 4-MEI to California’s Proposition 65 list of carcinogens. Exposure to high concentrations of 4-MEI (such as concentrations that might occur in industrial settings) is reported to irritate the lungs or burn the eyes and skin.
Why is this even a question? Stop putting the crap in our food! Food is suppose to make us healthy not harm us! I love Diet Coke Lime and I have not had one in about six months because of the ingredients and how it is made. I began looking for alternatives for Coke. Quickly I found the Reed Inc. product line. Both The Fireman and I really like Virgil’s Rootbeer and Zero Rootbeer. It is made with natural additives and no 4-MEI because the caramel color is made from cane sugar.
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) the more I learn about them the more it nauseates me. In my quest to eliminate them from my family’s diet has also led me to remove chemicals from it. The Fireman likes to cook by packages and we often eat in courses (the meat course, veggie course, etc…). We can’t cook together as we have two vastly different styles. He says he does not buy into the whole GMO thing, yet I am the one who does the shopping and most if not all of the cooking. So yeah, he “buys” into the whole GMO/chemical thing!
- Caramel colors under fire again: Is there a safe level of 4-MeI? By Elaine Watson+, 23-Jan-2014 http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Regulation/Caramel-colors-under-fire-again-Is-there-a-safe-level-of-4-MeI
- http://oehha.ca.gov/public_info/facts/4MEIfacts_021012.html
- http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/consumer&id=9404165
- http://reedsinc.com/
- http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/Colas-4-MEI-071013.aspx
