Assessment of the carcinogenic potential of a proposed food coloring additive, laccaic acid, using short-term assays.

Laccaic acid is a red colored natural dye produced by the insect Laccifer lacca or Coccus lacca. It is obtained in large amounts as a by-product of the shellac industry and has been considered for general use as a food coloring agent. Laccaic acid is found to have no mutagenic activity as assessed by two short-term assays: the Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity test, and the phi X fidelity assay. However, laccaic acid did inhibit metabolic cooperation in Chinese hamster V79 cells. These results suggest that laccaic acid should be tested in animals with particular emphasis on in vivo models for tumor promotion.