Sensient Technologies (Germany)

ABSTRACTAnthocyanins are responsible for the red/blue colour of grapes, currants, and other fruits and vegetables. They may also be extracted for use as colour additives (E163) or concentrated for use as colouring foods. Consumer exposures have been assessed using data on natural occurrence, use levels and frequencies from food manufacturers and European food consumption data. Intakes from natural occurrence can be up to 4 mg kg bw−1 day−1 at the mean and up to 17 mg kg bw−1 day−1 for children who are high level consumers of red/black berries and small fruits. High-level intakes for children from food colour and colouring food applications lie in the range 0.3–6.3 mg kg bw−1 day−1 and for adults at 0.6–2.8 mg kg bw−1 day−1. Exposures from food colour use and colouring foods separately or combined are therefore lower than those from natural occurrence in foods.

We present a photoacoustic sensor for VOC’s based on a room-temperature DFB-diode laser. Detecting certain “biomarkers” such as butane, it has the potential to enable a future breath test for early-stage lung cancer diagnostics.