A friend of mine told me that she uses RIT dye to dye her eggs. Is this safe?
Name: Tami
Message: Okay, I have a crazy question. A friend of mine told me that she uses RIT dye to dye her eggs. She says her and her friends have been using it for years. How can I find out what's in it? Can you help, I was trying to talk her out of it. It does not seem healthy! Thanks
Non-toxic Red Greek Egg Dye
Food dyes can be used to color eggs
Wow, Tami, that's a new one for me. My question is, does it do any good to warn people who persist in obviously unsafe behaviors? Your friend must know that what she is doing is stupid and dangerous. Why is she doing it, when safe colorings are readily available?
Some people will claim that dyeing eggs with Rit dye is safe because they have eaten them and did not become ill immediately. However, there is no way to tell if any cases of cancer in their families may have been triggered by eating unsafe dyes. Purposefully eating non-food-safe dyes seems likely to increase the overall risk of cancer, though the cancer may not develop until twenty years later.
It is okay to use Rit dye to color eggs only if the eggs will never be eaten. It is irresponsible and dangerous to use non-food-safe dyes if the eggs will be eaten. Giving Rit-dyed eggs to children to eat would be so irresponsible and foolish that it is difficult to imagine! Doesn't your friend care whether her children develop cancer in future years?
The Rit Dye company does NOT recommend that their dyes be used on foods that will be eaten. Although we do not know that eating Rit dye will cause cancer or other ill effects, we also, very importantly, do not know that it won't. Many colorings have proven after testing to be unsafe for use in food. Only those colorings which have been tested and found to be safe should be used to dye any food, including eggs that will be eaten.
Rit dye contains acid dyes and direct dyes which are intended only for use on textiles. They are not considered to be safe for ingestion in any way. In fact, you should never even use these dyes in any container or cooking pot which will later be used for food preparation. The MSDS pages available from the Rit Dye web site indicate that appropriate first aid for persons who have swallowed Rit dye includes inducing vomiting. Cautions include the following:
"Wear gloves suitable for protection against irritant chemicals. Rubber, PVA, or nitrile are satisfactory materials."
"To avoid ingestion of material, wash hands and face before eating, drinking, or using tobacco."
The MSDS pages do not, however, give any information about the long-term risks of ingesting these dyes. To do so would require extensive animal testing, which is not necessary if the dyes will be used only for coloring fabrics.
Of all of the thousands of coloring materials in the world, only a very small number have been approved for use as food additives. Many colors which were approved for food additives in the past, for example FD&C red #2, were later banned due to concerns about their potential for causing cancer. Dyes which have never been tested for safety in food include a large number of highly toxic or carcinogenic dyes. There is no reason to imagine that textile dyes that have not been tested for safety when eaten are at all suitable for use in foods. There are textile dyes in use that would never be tested for use as a food additive, because they are known to be toxic.
Traditional Pysanky, the Ukrainian art of egg decoration, makes use of aniline dyes which are known to be unsafe for eating, but these eggs are never eaten. The eggs are typically dyed while still raw; the contents of the egg eventually dry up inside the egg.
To dye Easter eggs that will later be eaten, your friend should use only food colorings which have been certified by government agencies to be safe for human consumption, or use natural colors made from foods which are known to be safe to eat. , such as carmine (made from cochineal cactus insects) or beets (which are a poor textile dye but can be used on eggs). If she is going to dye eggs with unsafe colors, your friend should restrict herself to dyeing blown-out eggshells, so that nobody will be tempted to eat their contents.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Message: Okay, I have a crazy question. A friend of mine told me that she uses RIT dye to dye her eggs. She says her and her friends have been using it for years. How can I find out what's in it? Can you help, I was trying to talk her out of it. It does not seem healthy! Thanks
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Non-toxic Red Greek Egg Dye
Food dyes can be used to color eggs
Wow, Tami, that's a new one for me. My question is, does it do any good to warn people who persist in obviously unsafe behaviors? Your friend must know that what she is doing is stupid and dangerous. Why is she doing it, when safe colorings are readily available?
Some people will claim that dyeing eggs with Rit dye is safe because they have eaten them and did not become ill immediately. However, there is no way to tell if any cases of cancer in their families may have been triggered by eating unsafe dyes. Purposefully eating non-food-safe dyes seems likely to increase the overall risk of cancer, though the cancer may not develop until twenty years later.
It is okay to use Rit dye to color eggs only if the eggs will never be eaten. It is irresponsible and dangerous to use non-food-safe dyes if the eggs will be eaten. Giving Rit-dyed eggs to children to eat would be so irresponsible and foolish that it is difficult to imagine! Doesn't your friend care whether her children develop cancer in future years?
The Rit Dye company does NOT recommend that their dyes be used on foods that will be eaten. Although we do not know that eating Rit dye will cause cancer or other ill effects, we also, very importantly, do not know that it won't. Many colorings have proven after testing to be unsafe for use in food. Only those colorings which have been tested and found to be safe should be used to dye any food, including eggs that will be eaten.
Rit dye contains acid dyes and direct dyes which are intended only for use on textiles. They are not considered to be safe for ingestion in any way. In fact, you should never even use these dyes in any container or cooking pot which will later be used for food preparation. The MSDS pages available from the Rit Dye web site indicate that appropriate first aid for persons who have swallowed Rit dye includes inducing vomiting. Cautions include the following:
"Wear gloves suitable for protection against irritant chemicals. Rubber, PVA, or nitrile are satisfactory materials."
"To avoid ingestion of material, wash hands and face before eating, drinking, or using tobacco."
The MSDS pages do not, however, give any information about the long-term risks of ingesting these dyes. To do so would require extensive animal testing, which is not necessary if the dyes will be used only for coloring fabrics.
Of all of the thousands of coloring materials in the world, only a very small number have been approved for use as food additives. Many colors which were approved for food additives in the past, for example FD&C red #2, were later banned due to concerns about their potential for causing cancer. Dyes which have never been tested for safety in food include a large number of highly toxic or carcinogenic dyes. There is no reason to imagine that textile dyes that have not been tested for safety when eaten are at all suitable for use in foods. There are textile dyes in use that would never be tested for use as a food additive, because they are known to be toxic.
Traditional Pysanky, the Ukrainian art of egg decoration, makes use of aniline dyes which are known to be unsafe for eating, but these eggs are never eaten. The eggs are typically dyed while still raw; the contents of the egg eventually dry up inside the egg.
To dye Easter eggs that will later be eaten, your friend should use only food colorings which have been certified by government agencies to be safe for human consumption, or use natural colors made from foods which are known to be safe to eat. , such as carmine (made from cochineal cactus insects) or beets (which are a poor textile dye but can be used on eggs). If she is going to dye eggs with unsafe colors, your friend should restrict herself to dyeing blown-out eggshells, so that nobody will be tempted to eat their contents.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Posted: Friday - April 18, 2008 at 10:10 AM
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Published On: Aug 29, 2012 02:47 PM
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Published On: Aug 29, 2012 02:47 PM