Prevalence of food colors use in local and imported pre-packaged foods in Hong Kong
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21295321 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lok Ching Sandra Chiu (0000-0002-8218-2359, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong), Hoi Ying Stefanie Yen (0000-0002-7541-6030, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong), Eden M Barrett (0000-0003-0190-6130, The George Institute for Global Health), Eden Barrett (The George Institute for Global Health), Daisy H Coyle (0000-0001-8904-0671, The George Institute for Global Health), Daisy Coyle (The George Institute for Global Health), Jason H Wu (0000-0003-2073-3562, The George Institute for Global Health), Jason H Y Wu (The George Institute for Global Health), Jimmy Chun Yu Louie (0000-0001-7736-605X, Swinburne University of Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 127 |
| Issue | 13 |
| Pages | 137-149 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-15 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Food Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-070X • E-ISSN: 1758-4108 |
| Publisher | Emerald (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1108/bfj-12-2023-1130 |
| OpenAlex | W4408218840 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 32 |
Purpose This study investigated the prevalence of food color utilization in 20,382 pre-packaged foods available for sale in Hong Kong in 2019. Design/methodology/approach Ingredient lists from the 2019 cross-sectional FoodSwitch Hong Kong database were screened to identify the presence of 35 common food colors, based on their name or respective E-number. Descriptive statistics were computed for the prevalence (%) and the number of food colors (total, natural and synthetic) used. Findings Food colors were found in 19.8% of the audited sample. Natural variants were more prevalent than synthetic ones (17.2 vs 3.9%). The majority (89.5%) of colored foods used one to two types, though some included more than four types of food colors. Notably, E160 (carotenoids) appeared most frequently (8.4% of all foods; 42.4% of colored foods), followed by E150 (caramel; 7.4 and 37.4%, respectively) and E102 (tartrazine; 2.1 and 10.8%, respectively). Regional disparities were observed, with Asian products more likely to incorporate at least one food color. Originality/value This audit suggests that one in five pre-packaged foods in Hong Kong contains food colors, emphasizing the need for updated risk assessments due to their widespread use in the food supply
Advertising · Agricultural economics · Business · Economics · Environmental health · Geography · Biochemical Analysis and Sensing Techniques · Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling · Dye analysis and toxicity · Food Science · Medicine
| Highly cited | No |
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