E124 colouring

Hy, could somebody hepl me? I have a quetion.The using of colouring (E124) is allowed in meat processing , for eample for sausages.

Thank you,

Anca

Hello Anca, the recent Sudan I problem had increased the sensitivity to this sort of thing. I took a look on the net and found:

E124
Ponceau 4R, Cochineal Red A, Brilliant Scarlet 4R

A red synthetic coal tar or azo dye found in dessert toppings, jelly, salami, seafood dressings, tinned strawberries and fruit pie fillings and packeted cake mixes, cheesecakes, soups and trifles.

It appears to cause allergic and/or intolerance reactions particularly amongst those with an aspirin intolerance or asthmatics. Can cause Hyperactivity, asthma, rhinitis and urticaria.

It is banned in Norway and the United States.

So it doesn't sound good. If not banned for your target market it would be an undesirable additive anyway.

I'm interested to know why you would want to colour your sausages red?

Regards,
Simon

I want to make a remark, I do not want to colour my sausages, but I find in my country (from East Europe) a producer which used this one, and I had a very hard fight with she based on this issue.

Anca,

I have checked the UK legislation and the only colouring permitted in "Breakfast" sausages ( containing at least 6% cereal ) is E128 at 20mg/kg.

But for Germany the legislation is as follows:

Breakfast sausages with a minimum 6% cereal content

Allura red AC, max 25 mg/kg

Cochineal, carminic acid, carmines, total max 100 mg/kg

Plain caramel, caustic sulphite caramel, ammonia caramel, sulphite ammonia caramel, to QS

Red 2G, max 20 mg/kg

Chorizo sausage

Cochineal, carminic acid, carmines, total max 200 mg/kg

Ponceau 4R, max 250 mg/kg

Sausages, other than breakfast sausages with a minimum 6% cereal content

Beetroot red (betanin), to QS

Carotenes (mixed carotenes, beta-carotene), total max 20 mg/kg

Cochineal, carminic acid, carmines, total max 100 mg/kg

Plain caramel, caustic sulphite caramel, ammonia caramel, sulphite ammonia caramel, to QS

Curcumin, max 20 mg/kg

Paprika extract (capsanthin, capsorubin), total max 10 mg/kg

So it looks like you will have check your local laws to be certain.

The issue with Food Additives is always "country specifics" and this can differ significantly from country to country as Saferpaker, Yorkshire has pointed out.

Check country law to save youself a whole lot of headache and potential "financial losses" and this is where BRC / ISO 22000 comes in where you need to address legality issues through risk assessments before product distribution.

Regards
Charles Chew