Simultaneous determination of 11 water-soluble synthetic colorants in foods consumed in Chile by high-performance...

In Chile, limited information is available on colorants in commonly consumed foods among vulnerable age groups. We developed and validated a rapid HPLC-DAD method to simultaneously evaluate 11 synthetic colorants in candies, beverages, ice cream, and cereals. The method exhibited excellent analytical performance for all 11 colorants with LOD (0.44 - 1.55 mgL^-1), LOQ v(1.32 - 4.70 mgL^-1), precision (4.0 and 7.3% RSD), and recovery (80 - 105%) in fortified matrices (10-50-100 mgL^-1). The highest detection frequencies were as follows: cereals > candies > beverages > ice cream. Sunset Yellow was the most prevalent colorant in all food matrices, followed by Allura Red and Azorubine. Positive samples contained between 1 and 5 synthetic colorants. With the exception of cereals, the colorant concentrations in the remaining matrices exceeded the Codex Alimentarius regulations and the values reported in other studies worldwide, indicating the Chilean population is at risk.