{"id":2432,"date":"2018-06-28T07:50:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T12:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com\/?p=2432"},"modified":"2023-11-10T08:28:16","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T14:28:16","slug":"food-coloring-in-pet-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com\/health\/food-coloring-in-pet-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Artificial Food Coloring: Is It Good for Your Pet?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
It\u2019s no accident that pet food often comes in a rainbow of colors. When you open a bag, it\u2019s comforting to see the golden yellow of chicken, the red of rare beef and the green of fresh vegetables \u2014 all hues that the original ingredients may lose during the manufacturing process. Often, these colors are added after the fact.<\/p>\n
But given that dogs and cats can\u2019t visualize the same spectrum of colors we can, the colors are really added to appeal to pet owners. Which raises the question, are artificial food colors really necessary? If they don\u2019t add any nutritional value, could they actually do more harm than good?<\/p>\n
In the 1880s, vendors found that food coloring could make their wares more appetizing. Unfortunately, the practice wasn\u2019t always honest: Colors were added to conceal spoilage or discoloration in less-than-fresh food. Even more alarming, some of the colors contained toxins such as mercury, arsenic and lead, which often had more severe effects on people than the original food spoilage.<\/p>\n
The Food and Drugs Act of 1906 banned the use of these toxic food colors. Most of the remaining approved food colorings were made from the byproducts of coal processing known as coal-tar dyes.<\/p>\n
Eventually, even these colors were found to be problematic when, in the 1950s, trick-or-treaters in several cities became sick from eating candy made with a common orange dye made from coal tar. This orange color additive and a red food color were tested for safety and eventually banned.<\/p>\n
This led to the Color Additives Amendments of 1960, which required more stringent government oversight and scientific evidence of safety for color additives used in human and animal foods.<\/p>\n
Today, the Food and Drug Administration regulates all color additives that are used in human and animal foods. All color additives must be listed with the FDA and fall into one of two categories: those that have to be certified by the FDA and those that don\u2019t. Certified colors are man-made and include fewer than ten approved colors.<\/p>\n
Colors that are exempt from certification are natural pigments from plants, minerals or animals. The FDA also provides strict guidelines for use of the colors including the types of foods that may use the coloring, the amount of coloring allowed and how the color must be identified on packaging. Still, the FDA continuously reviews all food colors for safety.<\/p>\n