Çocukların Tükettiği Atıştırmalık Gıdalarda Kullanılan Renklendiricilere İlişkin Bir Araştırma

Abstract

Colouring additives are used to regain the natural colour of food which is lost during production and storage or for strengthening the weak colour and presenting it to the taste of consumers. Nowadays, colorants are added to the products that especially children are consumed fondly and are considered as snacks such as cakes, chips, biscuits, chocolates, chewing gum, powdered pudding, flavoured milk, fruity yogurt, confectionery and jellybeans. The aim of the study is to examine especially the types and presence of colorants from additives in the label information of snack foods on a product basis and to determine the current situation related to their use. In the study, literature review and document analysis, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was performed. The literature review section of the study was carried out with accessible local and foreign resources. In addition, the snack foods that are frequently consumed by children were determined in advance and samples were collected from each product range and the label information was examined in terms of content. According to the results, it was found that there were colorants in all other snack foods except chocolate and it was mostly found in biscuit, chewing gum, confectionery and jellybean labels. In the label information of snack foods, it has been determined that there are Curcumin, β-Carotene, Carmine, Annatto, Titanium Dioxide, Anthocyanin, Beetroot Red, Paprika Extract, Chlorophylls’ Copper Complex, Lutein, Vegetable Carbon and Riboflavin; known as natural colorants. In addition, Brilliant Blue FCF, Indigotine and Ammonium Sulphite Caramel, which are synthetic colorants, were found in the gum, confectionery and jellybean labels. The study is important to inform consumers about the colorants used in foods and to fill the gap in the literature.