The Annatto plant
My 10 year old daughter is sensitive to certain food additives and as such i try to buy organic as much as i can believing it will help me be sure to cut out unnecessary rubbish from her diet. Can you Imagine how furious i was recently when i gave her some Tesco organic red leicester cheese only to discover after it had made her ill that it contains a "permitted non-organic ingredient:annatto". Why do we as parents try to feed our children as well as we can only to find out that even though it is being marketed as organic it has a "permitted non-organic ingredient" such as this horrible colouring. I don't think it should be marketed as organic at all if it has anything added, especially colouring known to cause problems with children.
I would be very interested to know what other permitted non-organic ingredients are around. For now though I am back to reading the ingredients on every packet of anything I buy, even the organic stuff. Just to let you know, not only did the annatto make my daughter hyperactive, which by the way she hates, it also made our dog hyperactive as he stole some of the cheese and ate it himself... and then couldn't go to sleep at night. Just shows you doesn't it!!
Thank you for your time and hopefully your interest.
Sally Corfe
Dear Sally
Thank you for your email.
The annatto plant is native to the Amazon rain forest, where it is called achiote. Annatto provides the natural face-paint that gives the classic image we have in the West of native Amazonian people with deep orangey-red stripes painted on their cheeks. I personally saw achiote paint being used by the Cofane tribe of people in the Equadorian Amazon rain forest. The Cofance people said that they use this face paint less as a cosmetic, and more because of the sun-blocking properties of the plant and it's general beneficial qualities for the skin.
Annatto food colouring comes from the resinous outer husks of the seeds of the annatto plant. It is very similar to beta-carotene, which is the stuff that naturally makes carrots orange. Annatto is a natural anti-oxidant, and is used by Amazonian people to heal dysentry and fevers. Annatto is widely used in traditional cuisine throughout Latin America, the Philippines and the Caribbean, and is particularly good at dyeing foods that are high in protein. It has a slightly peppery taste with a touch of nutmeg, and can be used as a cheap replacement for saffron.
I hope this sets your mind at rest about the safety of this time-honoured and completely non-toxic natural food colouring.
Kind regards
Ysanne
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