Venu Menon
Wellington, March 2,2024
Cotton candy, the sugary treat popular with children, has set off alarm bells in India, with states scrambling to test the confectionery item or ban its sale.
Recently, the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu announced the candy could no longer be sold after lab tests revealed it contained a cancer-causing ingredient.
Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian identified the colouring agent Rhodamine-B, used in cotton candy, as a carcinogen.
Announcing the ban, the minister said the use of Rhodamine-B in the “packaging, import, sale of food, or serving food containing it at weddings and other public events would be punishable under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.”
As per the provisions of the Act, cotton candy was deemed to be “substandard” and “unsafe,” the minister was quoted by local media as saying.
P. Satheesh Kumar, food safety officer in Chennai city, told a local newspaper that the contaminants in cotton candy “could lead to cancer and affect all organs of the body.”
The officer said “it [Rhodamine-B] is used in leather colouring as well as paper printing. It cannot be used for food colouring, and has immediate and long-term health hazards.”
The Union Territory of Puducherry followed suit by banning cotton candy, but exempted vendors who obtained a quality certification from the food safety authority.
Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan issued an order saying “those who have not got the quality certificate can immediately approach the food safety department and get it. After that, they can start selling cotton candy. The faster they get the food safety certification, the faster they can start their business. Until then, the sale of cotton candy is banned.”
She warned that candy sold unlawfully would be seized.
The states of Andhra Pradesh and Delhi were also considering a ban on cotton candy as a public health protection measure, as per local media reports.
Trading Standards, the food regulatory authority in the UK, was cited by media as saying Rhodamine-B, which has a fluorescent pink colour, was used as a dye in textiles, cosmetics and inks.
Europe and the US state of California have banned its use as a food dye.
According to the National Library of Medicine website, the use of Rhodamine-B in food, over time, leads to liver dysfunction or cancer. When exposed to large amounts over a short period, it results in acute poisoning.
In 2014, Rhodamine-B was found in products sold by Asian bakeries in the UK, prompting a customer alert.
Prof Chris Elliott, chair of food safety at Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland, said “illegal and potentially toxic dyes such as Rhodamine-B can make their way into a variety of different foods. Spices are another prime example. Any food which has food colouring agents added- cakes, desserts- are susceptible to this form of food fraud.”
He said it was unlikely that the major retail sector, with its checks and testing, posed a risk as compared to the “smaller corner store shops and cash and carry outlets that have very different supply chains and have virtually no form of testing undertaken.”
But nutrition experts claimed that the candy’s high sugar content posed a bigger risk.
Prof Tom Sanders of Kings College in London said: “The biggest hazard posed by candy floss is [that] it promotes tooth decay in children.”
The British Nutrition Foundation weighed in, adding: “From a nutritional perspective, candy floss is almost entirely made of sugar. This means it’s a concern both for sugars and calorie intakes and for dental health, particularly as it tends to stick to teeth. The sugars can be in contact with teeth for long periods after eating.”
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
