Studies have found that food colouring products pose a serious health risk.

Researchers have warned against the continued use of colour additives to food as they are gravely dangerous.

A retired oncologist, Julius Onyango, spoke to Business Daily said that food colour have no additional benefit to food, "I get disturbed when I order food and see very unattractive and overdone colours in my food. I would not eat it because I know how dangerous they are."

He explained that some of the colours contain heavy metals that can cause cancer.

Some of the compounds used to achieve the rich colours end up destroying the important nutrients.

Colours like yellow and red contain compounds such as benzidine and 4-aminobiphenyl that some research findings have linked to cancer.

Other studies have shown that the dyes create problems in children including allergies, hyperactivity, learning impairment and irritability.

The study published in the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health showed that children exposed to the chemicals became hypersensitive.

Some of the products are even used to colour hair and in cosmetics.

Dr Onyango advised that natural products should be used to colour food such as turmeric.

Other natural sources of colour are tomatoes and beetroots.

Foods such as roadside bhajia should be avoided as they have artificial colouring.