Food colouring additives and incidence of type 2 diabetes in the NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort

Résumé fourni par la source

Objective To investigate potential association between exposure to food colouring additives and type 2 diabetes incidence. Research Design and Methods 108,723 participants (79.2% female, mean age= 42.5 y, SD= 14.6) from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort were followed (2009-2023). Dietary data were assessed using repeated 24h-dietary records, including industrial food brands. Cumulative time-dependent exposure to food additives was evaluated through multiple composition databases and ad-hoc laboratory assays in food matrices. Associations between exposures to food colouring additives (sex-specific tertiles if proportion of exposed participants >2/3, or non-exposed/lower/higher exposed based on sex-specific median otherwise) and type 2 diabetes incidence were assessed using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Results 1,131 incident type 2 diabetes cases were diagnosed (median follow-up=8.05 y). After False Discovery Rate correction, intakes of following colours were associated with higher type 2 diabetes incidence: total food colouring additives (hazard ratio [HR]higher versus non/lower consumers (95% CI)= 1.38 [1.17-1.63], p=0.0002), total caramel (1.43 [1.21-1.67], p=0.0002), plain caramel (1.46 [1.26-1.70], p=0.0002), sulphite ammonia caramel (1.30 [1.07-1.59], p= 0.007), total carotene (1.27 [1.08-1.48], p=0.007), carotenoids (1.39 [1.19-1.62], p=0.0002), beta-carotene (1.44 [1.23-1.68], p=0.0002), paprika, capsanthin, and capsorubin (1.26 [1.08-1.46], p=0.004), lutein (1.20 [1.02-1.40], p=0.0002), curcumin (1.49 [1.29-1.73], p=0.0002), cochineal, carminic acid, and carmines (1.27 [1.10-1.48], p=0.003), and anthocyanins (1.40 [1.17-1.68], p=0.0002). Conclusion Several positive associations were observed between exposure to natural synthetic food colouring additives and type 2 diabetes incidence. Further studies are needed to gain insights into underlying mechanisms, and if confirmed, call for re-evaluation of food colouring additives to protect consumer health.

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