CARMINE COCHINEAL E 120

Hello everybody,


I am working in a food producing company and we are using E120 for coloring foodstuffs. Part of the girls which use the colour for airbrush told me that they are not feeling well when they are busy with this colour. Did you ever have this kind of problems? What I know is that the colour can give allergic reactions. Somebody know something more about thismatter?

Thank you!

Alina

Hello everybody,


I am working in a food producing company and we are using E120 for coloring foodstuffs. Part of the girls which use the colour for airbrush told me that they are not feeling well when they are busy with this colour. Did you ever have this kind of problems? What I know is that the colour can give allergic reactions. Somebody know something more about thismatter?

Thank you!

Alina

Dear Alina,

Carmine(E120) is a food colourant which is acid based and derived from the insect Dactylopius coccus Costa. The active ingredient is a hydrated aluminium chelate of carminic acid in which aluminium and carminic acid are thought to be present in the molar ratio 1:2.

I do think it might induce allergenic reactions with some groups of people but not necessarily all. Also it is a prescribed ingredient in cosmetology at lower doses. I hope this hepls.

Regards,

Agwanda

Dear Alina,

E120 is indeed known as an allergen.
It seems that not E120 itselve causes the problems. But inside the colour there are retains of the insects producing the carmine and these seem to cause the allergic reaction.
People suffering from the allergy can have problems by:
- ingestion (eating it)
- inhalation (respiring it)
- skin contact
So you can try to protect your girls the most with adapted gloves and mouth masks.
From my experience of working with an airbrush the 'ink' can be widely by spread in the surroundings. Adding some wax to the colour may help a bit.
But the combination of an allergen and the airbrush-technique seems a difficult case.

Good luck

Kind regards
Frederik