[Sca-cooks] dyestuff toxicity?

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

> Alkanet (Spanish Bugloss) "...is closely related to the poisonous
> Viper's Bugloss and should be used with caution, if at all." (Cindy
> Renfrow, "The Colorful Cook", _Compleat Anachronist #109, p.10)

Hm. Bizarrely, I found an issue of the Federal Register (12/23/99) online,
in  which the FDA states that alkanet is approved for coloring sausage
casings. The only mention of alkanet in Medline is to detecting the use of
it and other colorants such as tumeric, cochineal, and turmeric, and to
its use in wound healing.

The Wiley Encyclopedia of Food Science and Technology (2000) says alkannet
"has been used in Europe to color confectionary, ice cream, and wines, but
it is not permitted in the United States".

So, I would say it's probably safe to color eggs with alkanet, even if it
is related to  Viper's Bugloss.

(Bizarrely, extract of logwood is a permitted colorant in the U.S.
according to the FDA.)

-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net OR jenne at tulgey.browser.net OR jahb at lehigh.edu
"Are you finished? If you're finished, you'll have to put down the spoon."