If you’re a fan of bakery cakes, the Karnataka Food Safety and Quality Department has issued a serious warning. Following a recent investigation, the department revealed the presence of potentially cancer-causing ingredients in cakes sold by bakeries across the state. This comes after similar concerns were raised over street foods like gobi manchurian, kebabs, and pani puri, which were found to contain carcinogenic substances earlier this year.
In a new round of tests, the department discovered harmful levels of cancer-causing agents in 12 out of 235 cake samples collected from Bengaluru bakeries.
Among the harmful ingredients are artificial food colorings like Allura Red, Sunset Yellow FCF, Ponceau 4R, Tartrazine, and Carmoisine. These chemicals, commonly used to give cakes their vibrant hues—especially in varieties like red velvet and black forest—pose not only a risk of cancer but may also affect mental and physical health, the department warned.
While 223 samples passed the safety checks, the findings for the remaining 12 have sparked concern among cake consumers. The department is now pushing for stricter compliance with food safety standards in bakeries and has reiterated the dangers of excessive use of artificial colors.
In March this year, the Karnataka government had already banned the use of artificial colours in certain food items like gobi manchurian and cotton candy after similar carcinogenic chemicals were detected in these foods. However, after the ban reports suggested that the sale of gobi manchurian plummeted by 80% in the city due to the fear of presence of cancer-causing artifical colouring agents in the food items. The sales dropped even after some shops revealed that they opted to natural colouring like using betroot.
The latest warning about bakery cakes serves as a reminder for consumers to be mindful of what they eat and opt for safer, healthier alternatives.
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