This article examines the introduction of chemical dyes into food in the nineteenth century in four different countries: the United States, Britain, Germany, and France. From the early 1860s, chemists produced aniline and azo dyes from coal tar on an industrial scale for the burgeoning European textile industry. However, by the end of the century, hundreds of the new dyes were also being added to food, a use for which they were not designed. This article examines the disagreements among chemists over whether these new chemical substances should be seen as legitimate food ingredients or as food adulterants. This was a period when chemists were establishing themselves as professionals, with chemistry being promoted as a science capable of transforming everyday commodities and solving public health issues. However, chemists’ attempts to mediate the use of chemical dyes as food coloring were complicated by a lack of consensus within the chemical community about how to detect the use of such dyes in food and how to test their toxicity. Chemists also were conflicted in their response to the debate depending on whether they were employed by food or dye manufacturers, or working as food inspectors for the state and local authorities. In their efforts to gain authority as food experts, chemists found themselves in a crowded market of interested parties, including food manufacturers, consumers, and politicians. The article describes the diverse opinions of chemists, manufacturers, consumers, and regulators in Britain, France, Germany, and the United States, and the varied regulatory responses in these countries to the use of new chemical dyes in food.

中文翻译：

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19世纪将化学染料引入食品中

本文考察了 19 世纪美国、英国、德国和法国这四个不同国家将化学染料引入食品的情况。从 1860 年代初开始，化学家就以工业规模从煤焦油中为蓬勃发展的欧洲纺织业生产苯胺和偶氮染料。然而，到本世纪末，数百种新染料也被添加到食品中，而这些用途并非设计用于这种用途。本文探讨了化学家之间关于这些新化学物质应被视为合法食品成分还是食品掺假的分歧。这是化学家逐渐成为专业人士的时期，化学被提升为一门能够改变日常商品和解决公共卫生问题的科学。然而，由于化学界对如何检测此类染料在食品中的使用以及如何测试其毒性缺乏共识，化学家试图调解将化学染料用作食用色素的尝试变得复杂。根据他们是受雇于食品或染料制造商，还是担任州和地方当局的食品检查员，化学家对辩论的反应也存在冲突。在努力获得食品专家权威的过程中，化学家发现自己身处一个利益相关方拥挤的市场，包括食品制造商、消费者和政治家。文章描述了英国、法国、德国和美国的化学家、制造商、消费者和监管机构的不同意见，以及这些国家对在食品中使用新化学染料的不同监管反应。