Intellipharmaceutics International Inc. (IPCI)

[WeeZuhl]

Actually, no.

Blue dye can be made many ways including combining red cabbage, water, and baking soda.

Food for thought.

The pigment in red cabbage, anthocyanin, is a very cool molecule. We used it in one of my kid's science project. Similar to blue dye #1, it is "bioactive." It is actually an acid-base indicator- it changes color depending on the pH of the solution it is in. It is only blue in basic solution, and that is why, in your example above, it turns blue when you add baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). It is red in acidic solution (thus it is called red cabbage not blue cabbage, eh?), which is why it would not be an appropriate pigment for a stigmatizing dye. It would be red in the acidic environment of the G.I. tract, and it would be unwise to use a red pigment because it will cause everyone to go to ER because they think they are shitting blood (see Frankenberry poop).


There are only 3 blue dyes to choose from: Blue #1, Blue #2, and spirulina blue. Blue #1 is referenced throughout the PODRAS patent, and is most likely the dye used in Rexista. Blue #1 is a well-described mitochondrial poison in vitro. In the presence of blue dye #1, mitochondria ("the cellular powerhouse") stop converting oxygen to energy (ATP). In vivo, blue #1 is considered safe if it remains within the G.I., but if there is a permeable gut due to disease (sepsis, sprue, inflammatory bowel), then blue #1 is absorbed into the blood. Blue #1 crosses the blood-brain barrier, and there is no safe level of blue #1 in the bloodstream or the brain.