UK Lobby Group Calls for Ban on Caramel-Coloring Ingredient

The United Kingdom’s (UK’s) Children’s Food Campaign (CFC) has reportedly urged the Ministry of Health to prohibit use of the chemical 4-Methylimidazole (4-MEI), a byproduct of fermentation often found in soy sauce, roasted coffee and the caramel coloring added to colas and beer. In January 2012, California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment adopted a no significant risk level for 4 MEI, with Proposition 65 cancer warnings unnecessary for exposures at or below 29 micrograms per day. The development was covered in Issue 424 of this Update.

According to news sources, CFC’s effort was prompted by test results indicating
that colas sold in Britain contain 135 micrograms of 4-MEI per can.
Malcolm Clark, CFC campaign coordinator, asserts that only caramel colorings
“free of known cancer-causing chemicals” should be used worldwide. See
Daily Mail, June 25, 2012.