Also, some moaning principally for my own benefit, because I believe that I'm the only graduate chemist who reads my livejournal on a regular basis. My new medicine contains E124, which "may cause allergic reactions in people who are aspirin-sensitive". So I go to Wikipedia to find out why, and apparently "Since it is an azo dye, it may elicit intolerance in people allergic to salicylates (aspirin).". Now, I have a chemistry degree, and I have no idea WTF azo dyes have to do with salicylates. They both contain a benzene ring? They both contain a phenol group?! so do 90% of medications! Seriously, there is no obvious connection between azo dyes and salicylates that I can see, and this particular azo dye is not based on 2-hydroxybenzoic acid.
Still... why do drugs need to contain bright food colourings anyway? With the dye, these tablets look rather like Smarties. It would be very easy for a small child to eat them by mistake. Bah.