Health Risk Assessment of Synthetic Tartrazine Dye in some Food Products in Qom Province (Iran)

Background There is extensive evidence of tartrazine dye being used in foodstuff of Qom markets in Iran.Objective This study evaluates the synthetic tartrazine dye in some food products and the health risks caused by tartrazine consumption in Qom province.Methods The study has two stages: First, 125 food product samples, including confectionary products (e.g., candy (Nabat), Poolaky, Charkhandi, cream, and non-cream sweets) and restaurant products (barbecued chicken), were tested. In the second stage, the risk of exposure to tartrazine was evaluated.Results The results showed that 36.8% of samples in confectionery products (15.8 +/- 5.1 mg/kg) and 41.3% of samples in restaurant food (41.5 +/- 7.9) were colored with tartrazine dye. Based on the obtained results, all values of tartrazine levels in the food samples had not exceeded the maximum tartrazine limit (mg/kg) in food products. Also, the results of exposure estimation and hazard quotient of tartrazine in age groups revealed that the HQ for age groups was smaller than 1. Therefore, they show no considerable risk for tartrazine dye intake according to the food samples in Iran's market. The probability of total risk (95%) was calculated using Monte Carlo simulation. Finally, the mean risk calculated for childhood (5 -12) and adult years (36-55) were determined as 9.35 E-5 and 9.24 E-5, respectively.Conclusion This study showed the nonsignificant health risk of exposure to tartrazine in all study groups according to the amount and frequency of exposure. However, it is recommended to raise awareness among people concerning the health risks of artificial dye (especially tartrazine in food), conduct more research for risk assessment of tartrazine, and monitor related data.