Analysis of Carcinogenic Sudan Azo Dyes in Food Products

Tejkiron Gottapu

Southeast Missouri State University

Submitted To

Dr. David Cunningham

ANALYSIS OF CARCINOGENIC SUDAN AZO DYES IN FOOD PRODUCTS

Abstract

Sudan azo dyes, categorized as I, II, III and IV are some of the most appealing coloring agents in the field of food industry. The use of these dyes as colorants and additives enhances the uniformity of color in foods, improves the appearance of foods and thereby promoting their salability. Use of these dyes, however, presents harmful health effects of mutagenicity, carcinogenicity and toxicity. They have since been banned from use although a few cases of their illegal are still being reported. In the present study, the adulteration of selected red palm oil and palm cream in Ghana was investigated by quantifying the amount of Sudan IV present in the spiked and non-spiked samples. The samples were prepared by Solid-Phase extraction and analyzed by HPLC.

The results obtained indicated no observed presence of Sudan IV dye in both the neat oil palm oil and palm cream. Even though the method was not validated by determining the limit of detection, the correlation factor for the calibration curves of 0.99 suggests the possibility of the results being reproducible. It was therefore concluded that both the red palm oil and the palm cream considered in the study might not have Sudan IV dye.