Uptake of an aluminum-containing food color in human cells and its implications for human health

Food colors contain Aluminium (Al) to change the color’s solubility in water, but these Al containing versions of the food colors have never been investigated towards their pathophysiological effects in humans, but are assumed to behave like the Al-free version. We compared the food color carminic acid (CA) with its Al-containing version carmine (Car, both used as E 120) and could see a clear difference between gene expression profiles of Caco-2 cells exposed to Car, CA or control. Genes which were only dysregulated through Car treatment, but not with CA treatment, lead to a significant suppression of oxidative phosphorylation, which is known to be impaired in neurodegenerative diseases. We investigated the gene expression of differentiated Caco-2 cells after treatment with Carminic Acid, Carmine or Control for 24 hours (triplicates for each treatment)