Yellow dye from the bloodred webcap fungus may be harmful to humans – red dye may be a safer alternative

The safety of dyes derived from bloodthirsty webcap fungi may vary, according to a new doctoral dissertation exploring their toxicity. The study, completed at the University of Eastern Finland, found that red dermorubin appeared to be safe in cellular studies, while yellow emodin caused mutations in a commonly used bacterial mutation test and oxidative stress in human cells.