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The purpose of this study is to examine the synergistic effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and economic challenges on suicide risk, under the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, using a prospective population-based cohort study.

Participants included 435 adults (aged from 18 to 92 years, mean = 53.8) from the Utsunomiya COVID-19 seROprevalence Neighborhood Association (U-CORONA) study, a population-based longitudinal study in Utsunomiya city, Japan. The baseline survey was conducted in June 2020, between the first and the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. ACEs were assessed using 13 items, and economic challenges due to the COVID-19 were assessed using one item. In the follow-up study, conducted in October 2020 between the second and the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, suicide risk was assessed using six items from the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview via a self-reported questionnaire.

This study found positive independent association between ACEs and economic challenges due to COVID-19 and suicide risk. Synergistic effects were also found: the participants with one ACE and economic challenges and those with 2+ ACEs and economic challenges were more likely to be at higher risk of suicide compared to those without ACEs and economic challenges.

The findings suggest that adults with a higher number of ACEs, in addition to severe economic challenges, were more likely to be at risk for suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Natural food colors used in food are generally perceived as additives. Therefore, many studies have been conducted to prove the health benefits and risks of using natural food colors, which play an important role in the food industry, and to identify realistic stabilization methods. This paper aims to examine the health effects of natural food colors from a pharmacological approach.

The paper searches for relevant literature using keywords such as “natural food coloring”, “stabilization” and “antioxidant effects”. For the case study area, this paper added “food science and technology” to identify methods for stabilizing natural food coloring. From this review, the authors ultimately selected 79 articles that appeared to meet the research objectives.

When using natural food coloring in food, there are concerns about stabilization. However, with the development of food science and technology, the authors have found that there are multi-layer emulsification methods that can be applied before, during and after food manufacturing, and storage standards are also important. Natural food coloring is playing a diverse role in food science.

Natural food coloring has been reported in various types of literature to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antitumor effects. The most common pigments are carotenoids. Considering the positive effects of natural food coloring on human health, the authors suggest future directions for the development of food science and technology and provide a perspective for changing consumer perceptions.