How Can Caramel Food Coloring Impact My Health? (0:41)
When people see caramel food coloring on a label, they may think that additive is natural - but it is actually a chemical, which can contain ammonia! Watch pediatrician Alan Greene, MD, discuss the danger of caramel coloring and what you should know.
Read Transcript
When people see food coloring, artificial food coloring on a label red number something or yellow number something, they think that it's a chemical but when they see caramel coloring, most people think it's a natural color, not necessarily. Under that label caramel coloring, there's a couple of different processes that are allowed and frequently used, often using a chemical such as ammonia, treated with sugar to create the color but those ingredients are possibly causing cancer and there's no good reason for them.
I wish they weren't in foods, but if they are in foods I believe they should be labelled, not as caramel coloring, but as for instance ammonia caramel coloring.
Alan Greene, MD, is a practicing pediatrician, author, speaker, children’s health advocate, and father of four. He is the founder and CEO of DrGreene.com and the Chief Medical Officer of Scanadu.
