I LOVE caramels. I once went on an obsessive search for salted caramels, prompting me to pay an exorbitant amount of money for some home made ones from Etsy.com. I suppose I could make them myself, yes but this love is not rational. The thought of deep and rich caramel brings me to my happy place. And it probably does for a lot of people, which is why "caramel coloring" is such a popular item on the old ingredient list these days.
But what is it exactly? Burnt sugars rubbed all over your holiday ham to make it have that rich "right out of the oven" look? Er...well, no. It's made chemically burning carbohydrates (Fructose, dextrose ect.) along with alkalais or salts. It's one of the oldest tricks in the recent culinary coloring world and the colors range from deep dark to tan. Most of it (3/4s) is used in the making of beverages (ah..our good friend soda pop!) There are different processes in making it and different classifications of colorings which may...or may not...involve the use of ammonium and/or sulfites in the manufacturing. It is "generally recognized as safe" by the USDA.
It can, however, be allergen since it can be made using allergens such as lactose (derived from milk), glucose (made from wheat) and or malt syrup (barley). If you see it on the label, there should be an allergy listing at the bottom which will tell you where it comes from. ("This product may contain wheat and milk"). You'll find caramel coloring in everything from breads to beers.
There have been some studies done that link caramel colorings to cancer, especially if ammonia is used in it's processing. The trouble is..how do you know? You'll find in the U.S. that it only needs to be labeled as "caramel color".
Here is an excellent article with more information: http://www.cspinet.org/new/201102161.html
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