Efectos causados en la salud por el uso de colorante tartrazina y el edulcorante ciclamato de sodio en la industria alimentaria y su relación con la bioética

Abstract

Food additives are substances added to food to maintain or improve its safety, freshness, taste, texture or appearance (World Health Organization, 2018). There is a wide variety of additives including colours, which are any pigment or substance made or obtained from vegetables, animals or minerals that can give colour to food (Food and Drug Administration, 2018) and sweeteners, which are substances added to food to give it a sweet taste, increasing the enjoyment of eating (Duran S, 2013). The aim of this work is to review the literature on the state of the art of two additives debated since their appearance, which are the artificial heat sweetener Sodium Cyclamate and the azo dye Tartrazine, and how these lead to health risks by their consumption. Initially the colours are of great importance given the visual aspect of the food, which is why food colours play such an important role among food additives and are often used to highlight the natural colour of the food and others to restore the colour lost in handling for preservation (Sanchez R, 2013). On the other hand, artificial sweeteners were presented as safe for health and with multiple benefits for slimming diets (weight control), as well as for pathologies related to a high level of blood glucose (diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, various types of cancer), and to improve the quality of life related to unhealthy behaviours (Porrate C, 2009). However, in these categories of additives, safety studies and analyses have been generated, which has caused several substances such as Tartrazine and Sodium Cyclamate to be questioned to the point of being banned because of their toxicity and/or harmful effects on health. Finally, an analysis from the bioethical point of view was carried out taking into account two aspects: 1. the dilemma of consumer health vs. the food industry, relating the commitment of consumer health against the use of additives that "improve" the characteristics of food; 2. the use of experimental animals in research, which are used to determine risk factors generated by the use of additives, where the dilemma between the benefit for humans, the potential harm for the animal and not hindering research is presented (Barrios E, 2011).