ABSTRACT:
The current wave of appalling shortage and scarcity of food and agricultural produce throughout the world has resulted in the spiraling prices of eatables. Implicit in the situation is another serious problem of adulteration of food, which has recently made its dreadful appearance on a scale rarely witnessed in the past. Among various contaminants of food, the use of food colours, in particular, have attained alarming dimensions in the recent years. It is a matter of serious concerns that in spite of regulatory surveillance the use of non-permitted colours in some loose/non-branded products in both rural and urban markets is continuing. Majority of non-permitted food dyes such as Metanil yellow, Orange II, Rhodamine B, Malachite green, Auramine, Amaranth and Sudan dyes are known to cause varied toxic manifestations in the experimental animals. The present study was aimed to evaluate the cytogenetic effects of a non-permitted food dye lead chromate on swiss albino mice. The results clearly indicate the chromotoxic effects of lead chromate, both for short term and long-term experiments.