Reproductive and neurobehavioral effects of cochineal administered to mice in the diet.

Mice were given the natural color additive cochineal in their food to provide dietary levels of 0 (control), 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0%, from five weeks of age in the F0 generation to nine weeks of age in the F1 generation, and selected reproductive and behavioral parameters were measured. Cochineal had few adverse effects on litter size, weight, or sex ratio. The average body weight of offspring during the lactation period was significantly decreased in higher-dosed groups of each sex. With regard to the neurobehavioral parameters, surface righting at postnatal day (PND) four was significantly affected in male offspring during the lactation period. Several parameters of movement activity in females were significantly different from controls at eight weeks of age in the F0 generation and at three weeks of age in the F1 generation. Multiple water T-maze performance of females was affected in treatment groups in the second trial at seven weeks of age in the F1 generation. The dose levels of cochineal in this study produced some adverse effects in reproductive and neurobehavioral parameters in mice.