In 1982, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a publication, known as the Redbook, that described the current toxicological principles used for the safety assessment of regulated food and color additives. This publication was the successor to 1949 “Black Book.”

However, this document contained only minimum reference to neurotoxicity as a specific toxicological concern and only general mention of the types of data that should be collected to detect and assess adverse changes to the nervous system.

The general nature of the toxicological information typically derived from studies based on the original Redbook has had only limited use as a guide for comprehensive assessment of neurotoxic hazard. This limitation is one of the issues being addressed in the current efforts to update the information provided in the Redbook.