HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY OF FOOD COLORS AND ITS RELEVANCE IN FORENSIC CHEMISTRY

The forensic interest in the use of food colours is related to health rights and safeguard of the consumer, as established in national legis lations. The regulations related to food dyes consider the health of h uman beings and the adulteration of foodstuffs and economic needs conn ected with quantitative restrictions on imports. Efficient analytical methods are required for evaluating toxicity and authenticity or adult eration, in order (a) to determine whether there are synthetic dyes pr esent in foods and whether they are permitted, (b) to determine the le vels, (c) to confirm the absence of added dyes in foods where they are not declared and (d) to check on the stability of dyes during process ing and storage. Recent HPLC methods for the identification and determ ination of natural and synthetic dyes and of carcinogenic amines conta ined as impurities in synthetic dyes are reviewed.