Anxieties to the safety of food have risen.
It is because the doubt concerning the safety of natural additive "Acane coloring matter" that has been used in Japan for years surfaced after the comfrey of health food.
National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS, web) clarified the carcinogenic to the kidney by the animal experiment. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare requested to stop using the additive voluntarily to the food industry on June 18, and asked the consumer not to take it.
The ministry consulted Food Safety Commission about the opinion of the safety evaluation.
The Acane coloring matter is an artificial color obtained by extracting it from the root of Rubia tinctorum LINNE. The color is yellow and purplish red color.
The production of two years is about eight tons.
However, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare doesn't understand domestic production of food that uses the coloring matter.
Carcinogenic turned out in the safety examination of the additive by the NIHS.
The Acane coloring matter is widely used with the soft drink, jam, the boiled fish paste, the sausage, and the cakes according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Some enterprises started the voluntary recall of food where the coloring matter was included.
However, the judgment whether to recall food voluntarily actually depends on each entrepreneur's idea.
Therefore, there are a lot of consumers who are eating them without knowing food where the carcinogen is included.