Long-term exposure to food colorants E171 and E173 leads to the accumulation of titanium and aluminum in the brain

Today, human lifestyle, the increase in living conditions, social welfare, the improvement of working conditions, and the increase in annual income require the development of all sectors of society. In particular, in the manufacturing industry, the quality o,f the product and uniqueness, color, packaging, and long-term storage are highly valued by consumers, in addition to the shelf life. Food additives are actively used in industry on a large scale in order to fully meet the above requirements. In particular, artificially synthesized food dyes are attracting entrepreneurs with their low cost and stability. Artificial dyes, which are very convenient to use in industry and have many advantages, are completely replacing natural coloring agents. The fact that synthetic dyes available in the manufacturing industry seriously affect health indicators shows how urgent the issue is. At present, the number of diseases associated with poor nutrition is steadily increasing. This issue is one of the key global priorities under the attention of the World Health Organization. Therefore, in order to prevent such diseases, the development of programs aimed at promoting healthy eating and limiting the consumption of processed and semi-processed food products, as well as colorful items enriched with artificial additives, is gaining importance in the state policy designed to meet the needs of modern society. Among the artificial food additives used to alter the organoleptic properties of food products, food colorants occupy a significant place. These additives are organic compounds not found in nature, i.e., they are synthetically produced, and almost all of them have been used in the global food industry for decades. Unlike natural colorants, synthetic food dyes do not possess biological activity and do not contain flavoring substances or vitamins. Nevertheless, they have important technological advantages over natural dyes: they are less sensitive to processing and storage conditions and provide bright, easily reproducible colors. Typical representatives of such artificial, metalcontaining food dyes are E171 and E173, which contain titanium dioxide and aluminum, respectively. This scientific research specifically studies the effects and accumulation of the nanoparticle-sized titanium dioxide (E171) and aluminum-based (E173) food dyes in the brain.