The Effects of Food Coloring on a Wheat Plant

Color Changes

• According to the University of Illinois, watering a plant with dyed water may cause the plant to become tinted a different color. Cut stems of a wheat plant will become more tinted in dyed water than will a planted wheat plant, because cut stems absorb more food coloring than plant roots.

Coloring Mechanism

• Plants absorb water through their roots, and pressure then drives the water upward and into the body of the plant. When plant roots are exposed to water with food coloring dissolved in it, some of the food coloring often enters the plants along with the water. After a while, food coloring may tint the wheat plant an unnatural color.

Risks

• Food coloring will not negatively impact plant growth, so it is pretty safe to water a wheat plant with colored water. Because of allergic reactions to food dye, however, wheat dyed with food coloring will not be as edible for as large a percentage of the population as will un-dyed wheat.

Allergy Risks

• Some people are allergic to food coloring, so giving food coloring to a wheat plant might make it inedible to individuals with food dye allergies. People especially tend to be allergic to yellow food dye and red, orange, pink and purple colors that contain carmine dye. Serious food allergies cause severe reactions, including a rash, an upset digestive tract, swollen skin, breathing problems and death.