Synthetic food dyes include: Blue 1 & 2, Red 3 & 40 & Citrus Red 2, Green 3, and Yellow 5 & 6. These are all made from petroleum (petrochemicals) and can cause hypersensitivity, hyperactivity, behavioral problems, allergic reactions, neuroendocrine toxicity and possibly cancer; they may also be contaminated by carcinogens during processing. In lab animal studies, many of these DO cause cancer. That means they can be considered carcinogens. The definition of a carcinogen (per Merriam-Webster dictionary): "a substance or agent causing cancer." WOW. Would you readily ingest a cancer-causing agent? Suck it back like, say, your favorite drink or snack?
Even if the studies are mixed, the behavioral issues should be a big red flag for us parents. Who wants their kid flying off the handle, being the loudest at the party or disrupting the classroom? There may be something to that Feingold diet after all. The Feingold site: http://www.feingold.org/ gives loads of info (since like 1970!) on how diet affects childrens' behavior. For more info on food dyes and their prevalence: http://www.iatp.org/files/421_2_105204.pdf and note that in Europe and especially Great Britain, most of the same dye-laden items we sell here are dye-free versions there! They use natural colors like beet juice and turmeric instead of artificial colors as their government has mandated.
The problem lies with the amount of synthetic food dyes being ingested in the US. Also, combinations of dyes used together in one product or when multiple colored foods/drinks are ingested together, may have a cumulative effect in humans. The major issue in my view is the consumption in children, whose bodies are smaller and may absorb greater amounts of these dyes, not to mention their love of all things brightly colored! The most commonly used are Red 40, Yellow 5 & Yellow 6. These 3 combined account for 90% of all dyes used (per CSPI's report) and it appears their use has increased 5-fold since the 1950's. Think about how many colored foods and drinks you and your family ingests in a day!
Safer alternatives ARE available for commercial food manufacturing! These include beta carotene, beet juice, paprika, and turmeric. There is really no need for synthetic dyes in our food supply; they serve no safety or nutritional purpose. And they may truly cause harm. They are very, very prevalent: check your packaged food and drink labels! These dyes are used in practically EVERYTHING: juice drinks, yogurt, bread, cereal, granola bars, pop tarts, fruit snacks, frozen desserts, jelly/jam, cookies, etc. It takes a lot of detective work in the food store (like you even have time to check!) to seek out those few items without dyes! I say reward those companies who do avoid them! Here are some of my recommendations for dye-free kid-friendly food/drink items:
- Motts Fruit Snacks (these are the ONLY fruit snacks I have ever found without dyes!)
- Nature Valley granola bars
- GoGo squeeZ applesauce (sold at Target)
- Pepperidge Farm Goldfish: most versions (although not the colored ones!)
- Nature's Path Toaster Pastries (Awesome pop tarts sold at many supermarkets like Giant)
- Utz Potato Chips (even the Old Bay chips have no dyes)
- Fiber One granola bars
- Planters NUTrition Energy Bars (these do contain peanuts FYI)
- Kraft Deluxe macaroni & cheese (do check carefully here & pretty much you have to avoid the character versions: sorry! Get your Sponge Bob fix elsewhere)
- Back to Nature mac-n-cheese (many big-name supermarkets do carry)
- Annie's mac-n-cheese (got it at Giant)
- Danimals yogurt (this is a tough area, so check carefully on labels)
- Town House Reduced Fat Light Buttery Crackers (and NO trans fat either: WOW)
- Cheez-It crackers (most versions are dye-free: they use annatto extract though)
- 100% Juices (even Capri Sun makes a version: check labels!)
- Trader Joe's snacks: this is a great place to let your kids pick their own stuff: pretty much the whole store is dye-free! (just note that many of their personal care items do contain parabens, but that is a whole other blog!)
And for Easter Eggs: http://chemistry.about.com/od/holidayhowtos/a/eastereggdyes.htm
In terms of getting this artificial food dye out of our food system, this is a much bigger problem. Think of the tip of the iceberg and the Titanic and you have some idea of what we are up against. One excellent way to indirectly remove the dyes is by governing food manufacturers to post warning labels on the front of the foods and drinks containing artificial dyes and that they may be linked with ADHD. So far this has not panned out, but we can hope!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/health/policy/30fda.html and http://www.fairwarning.org/2011/04/panel-rejects-warning-labels-for-food-dyes/ and http://cspinet.org/new/201112081.html
You can take action here: http://my.cspinet.org/site/PageServer or by contacting your elected officials at http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
Here are some other linked blog sites for your perusal: http://fooddyediaries.blogspot.com/2008/08/whats-up-with-food-dye.html and http://colorfreediet.com/
Remember also that artificial food dyes are also in many personal care items which are often marketed for kids: is it possible to absorb dyes via the skin? If so, this would add to your total exposure and may have a cumulative effect. Your skin and scalp are porous tissues: they readily absorb ingredients topically applied and these can go throughout the body via blood vessels just beneath the surface. The skin is your largest organ! Just start being aware of what ingredients you give yourself, but especially those small people in your life who are still growing.
Bottom Line: start using your eyes and READ YOUR LABELS! Good luck y'all
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