Dangers of Toxic Food Dyes
Dr Mercola speaks up about the Dangers of Toxic Food Dyes.
Food dyes are one of the most widely used and dangerous additives. While the European Union has recently placed regulations on labeling food dyes to inform consumers of the health risks, the United States has no such requirement. Here are some of the most common food dyes used today, according to the Food Freedom Network:
Dr. Mercola's Comments
Every year, food manufacturers pour 15 million pounds of artificial food dyes into U.S. foods -- and that amount only factors in eight different varieties, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
These dyes are so common in U.S. foods -- especially kids' foods -- that parents don't think twice about giving their children rainbow-colored cereal or fluorescent blue "juice," and adults don't consider bright orange cheese puffs out of the ordinary, either.
But you might do a double take if these food packages contained warnings detailing what these artificial food colorings may really be doing to your health, and that of your children.
Well, in the European Union at least, they do. As of July 2010, most foods in the EU that contain artificial food dyes were labeled with warning labels stating the food "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children." The British government also asked that food manufacturers remove most artificial colors from foods back in 2009.
In the United States, however, consumers are still snatching up artificially colored foods with fervor, as most are completely unaware of the risks involved … and let me just say, hyperactivity in children is only the tip of the iceberg.
Cancer and Other Serious Risks from Food Dyes Revealed In CSPI's summary of studies on food dyes, you can see that some of the most commonly used food dyes may be linked to numerous forms of cancer. CSPI reported:
"The three most widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are contaminated with known carcinogens … Another dye, Red 3, has been acknowledged for years by the Food and Drug Administration to be a carcinogen, yet is still in the food supply."
In their 58-page report, "Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks," CSPI revealed that nine of the food dyes currently approved for use in the United States are linked to health issues ranging from cancer and hyperactivity to allergy-like reactions -- and these results were from studies conducted by the chemical industry itself.
For instance, Red # 40, which is the most widely used dye, may accelerate the appearance of immune-system tumors in mice, while also triggering hyperactivity in children.
Blue # 2, used in candies, beverages, pet foods and more, was linked to brain tumors. And Yellow 5, used in baked goods, candies, cereal and more, may not only be contaminated with several cancer-causing chemicals, but it's also linked to hyperactivity, hypersensitivity and other behavioral effects in children.
As CSPI reported:
"Almost all the toxicological studies on dyes were commissioned, conducted, and analyzed by the chemical industry and academic consultants. Ideally, dyes (and other regulated chemicals) would be tested by independent researchers.
Furthermore, virtually all the studies tested individual dyes, whereas many foods and diets contain mixtures of dyes (and other ingredients) that might lead to additive or synergistic effects.
In addition to considerations of organ damage, cancer, birth defects, and allergic reactions, mixtures of dyes (and Yellow 5 tested alone) cause hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in some children.
… Because of those toxicological considerations, including carcinogenicity, hypersensitivity reactions, and behavioral effects, food dyes cannot be considered safe. The FDA should ban food dyes, which serve no purpose other than a cosmetic effect, though quirks in the law make it difficult to do so (the law should be amended to make it no more difficult to ban food colorings than other food additives).
In the meantime, companies voluntarily should replace dyes with safer, natural colorings."
Remember Why Food Colorings are Added to Foods in the First Place … If you need further incentive to ditch artificially colored foods from your diet, remember the reason they're added to processed foods in the first place: to make a food that would otherwise be an off-colored mess look appealing.
When foods are processed not only are valuable nutrients lost and fibers removed, but the texture, natural variation and flavors are lost also. After processing, what's actually left behind is a bland, uninteresting "pseudo-food" that most people would find entirely unappetizing.
So at this point, food manufacturers must add back in the nutrients, flavor, color and texture in order to make them desirable, and this is why they become loaded with food additives.
Most commonly, additives are included to:
Take one carefully designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the journal The Lancet. It concluded that a variety of common food dyes, and the preservative sodium benzoate -- found in many soft drinks, fruit juices and salad dressings -- do in fact cause some children to become measurably more hyperactive and distractible.
The study also found that the E-numbered food dyes do as much damage to children's brains as lead in gasoline, resulting in a significant reduction in IQ.
The results of this study were what prompted the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) to issue an immediate advisory to parents, warning them to limit their children's intake of additives if they notice an effect on behavior. As mentioned earlier, they also advised the food industry to voluntarily remove the six food dyes named in the study back in 2009, and replace them with natural alternatives if possible.
The United States, however, has not followed suit in issuing any similar warnings to American parents, even now two years later.
Stick to Naturally Colored Foods for Your Health Let me make it clear that your diet should include a range of vibrantly colored foods … but these foods should be the ones that are naturally rich in color. Red bell peppers, purple eggplant, green spinach, blueberries and rainbow chard are all examples of healthy foods whose bright colors are signs of the important nutrients they contain.
These are the food colors you need in your diet … not the man-made varieties found in most processed foods. The good news is avoiding artificial food dyes is incredibly easy -- just stick to whole fresh foods and avoid the processed ones.
Source : Dr. Mercola
LINK TO SOURCE
Do synthetic food colours cause hyperactivity? - critics blame the additives for triggering behavioral problems in youngsters
Thirty years on and the powers that be are still asking the same question? When will profit not take precedence to health?
Critics blame the additives for triggering behavioral problems in youngsters
A very informative article from the Chicago Tribune.......
Food coloring is the reason glace cherries are red rather than beige and that children's tongues sometimes appear freakishly blue. But man-made dyes may do more than make processed food look vibrant and whimsical. Some blame the additives for triggering behavioral problems in youngsters.
Acting on research published in the Lancet, the European Parliament last year began requiring products containing synthetic food colors to carry warning labels saying that "consumption may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children."
Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a March hearing on whether food dyes adversely impact children's health. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, or CSPI, is asking the agency for a synthetic food-dye ban and to place warnings on products until the colors are removed.
The dyes are often used to enhance the appearance of sugary cereals, candies, sodas, fruit-flavored snacks, fast food and other products that are aimed at children and have little nutritional value, the CSPI said in a citizen's petition signed by 18 physicians and researchers. Since naturally derived alternatives exist, the continued use is hardly worth any potential risk, it said.
"What's the benefit? To make junk food even more appealing to children than it already is?" asked CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson.
Other experts say food dyes, which require pre-market approval, are among the most tightly regulated additives on the market and there's little evidence for the long-suspected link between food colors and hyperactivity.
"The (synthetic food dyes) used in the U.S. are absolutely safe," said Joseph Borzelleca, a professor emeritus of pharmacology and toxicology at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. "Food colors are among the most thoroughly studied of the food ingredients."
That hasn't always been the case. Originally, naturally derived ingredients were used to make food look more appealing — saffron, for example, gave rice a yellow tint. In the 1850s, manufacturers began using long-lasting coal-tar dyes to brighten both fabric and food, a practice that sickened countless unsuspecting consumers.
Nearly 200 substances were in use when safety testing was finally required in 1960; only a handful survived the testing process.
Today, the nine synthetic hues approved for use in food — meaning they've been certified by the FDA — are used primarily to help restore the color washed away by industrial processing, even out natural variations and make foods look more appealing or "fun."
Manufacturers also can use dyes made from plant, animal or mineral sources, such as beets, caramel color or grape color extract, but the petroleum-based colors are cheaper and can be more consistent.
"The content of a natural color like grape skin varies, depending on where they're grown, the season, the kind of chemicals used and harvesting," said Borzelleca. "But with approved colors you're getting the same thing every time."
Synthetic food colors have been suspected of triggering behavioral problems in children since the 1970s, when pediatric allergist Ben Feingold began treating allergies by putting children on elimination diets, free of both synthetic food dyes and preservatives. But Feingold's ideas, now touted as a way to treat children with attention-deficit disorder, were never convincingly substantiated.
The issue resurfaced in 2007 after University of Southampton researchers reported in the Lancet that hyperactive behavior increased in two groups of children — age 3 and ages 8 and 9 — when they consumed two different mixtures of artificial colors, plus a preservative.
Unlike previous studies, the Southampton research found the effect in children from the general population, not just those whose parents suspected they were sensitive to food dyes. And the study didn't just rely on parental ratings of their children's behavior, which can be subject to bias; it also used ratings generated by teachers, researchers and computers.
The British Food Standards Agency, which commissioned the trial, subsequently advised concerned parents to reduce or eliminate six colorings from their children's diets. A committee of the European Parliament then voted to ban all synthetic dyes from foods consumed by babies and small children.
The FDA still maintains there's "no evidence" of a link between dyes and hyperactivity. When it reviewed the Southampton study, the agency "found no information to suggest that the behavioral changes noted were adverse, detrimental or maladaptive." One of the study's shortcomings, the FDA said, was that it used a mixture of color additives and the preservative sodium benzoate, making it impossible to know which individual additive was responsible for the effect.
The researchers, who have been invited to the March FDA panel, acknowledged that more studies are needed but disagree with the FDA's view that the effects were insufficient to warrant action.
While many factors can influence hyperactivity in children, including genes and environment, "there is good evidence that artificial food colors can also increase levels of hyperactivity," said Jim Stevenson, the study's lead author and professor emeritus in the school of psychology at the University of Southampton.
Certain food dyes, including FD&C Yellow No. 5, also can trigger allergic-type reactions in some people, but allergists note that many natural foods also can cause such symptoms.
"Some chemicals naturally present in strawberries, pineapples or some insecticides used on fruit also bother some people," said Michael B. Foggs, chief of allergy, asthma and immunology for Advocate Medical Group of Advocate Health Care. "Should children be forced to eat foods devoid of artificial coloring agents because a small percentage of children are bothered by recognizable side effects?"
The uncertainty over the evidence leaves parents with many questions and pediatricians with few answers.
Aaron Donnell, an allergist and pediatrician at Children's Memorial Hospital and Illinois Masonic Hospital, said that if parents have questions about attention-deficit disorder, he tells them that skin- or blood-testing won't help, but they can try removing gluten, sugar, dyes or preservatives from the child's diet. "At least half get some improvement by adjusting their diet," he said.
Soledad Erickson, a Chicago teacher, went to Donnell after she suspected food dyes were affecting two of her children. Daughter Marcella, 8, had severe mood swings, and Sydnie, 5, broke out in severe rashes.
Both girls improved after she removed the chemicals from their diet, she said.
"Marcella became more focused and pays attention," said Erickson, adding that signs of the old problems re-emerge when food dyes sneak back into the girls' diets. "She's so much happier and friendlier since I've taken out the dyes. If you met her last year, you'd never think this was the same child."
In Ari Goldstein's clinic, meanwhile, parents are often counseled on the potential benefits of dietary changes after children are diagnosed with learning difficulties or behavioral problems.
Goldstein, director of Cognitive Solutions Learning Center in Chicago and Highland Park, said he knows more research is needed. Still, he urges parents to "clean up" their children's diets, which included removing as many refined and processed foods as possible and incorporating whole foods.
"I've seen some cases where removal of synthetic dyes has improved behavior patterns tremendously; however, other dietary interventions were also in play," Goldstein said.
Some manufacturers and retailers already are moving to replace synthetic colorings with natural alternatives in their products. Both Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have pledged not to sell products with synthetic food colors. Starbucks doesn't permit dyes in its beverages or pastries, Necco has switched to safer natural colorings for its wafers and Frito-Lay is testing dye-free snack foods, according to CSPI.
Many companies have also reformulated products to adjust to the regulations in Europe. For example, Kellogg's strawberry Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars sold in the U.S. contain Red No. 40, Yellow No. 6 and Blue No. 1. But in the U.K., the cereal bars contain natural alternatives: beet root red, annatto and paprika extra.
"I don't think the dyes are good for anything," said Dr. Alan Greene, a clinical professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine who signed the CSPI petition. "The only benefit is to trick you into eating the food or to make it look healthier than it is."
Source : The Chicago Tribune
Link to Source
Do synthetic food colours cause hyperactivity? - critics blame the additives for triggering behavioral problems in youngsters
Food dyes are one of the most widely used and dangerous additives. While the European Union has recently placed regulations on labeling food dyes to inform consumers of the health risks, the United States has no such requirement. Here are some of the most common food dyes used today, according to the Food Freedom Network:
- Blue #1 (Brilliant Blue)
An unpublished study suggested the possibility that Blue 1 caused kidney tumors in mice. What it's in: Baked goods, beverages, desert powders, candies, cereal, drugs, and other products.
- Blue #2 (Indigo Carmine)
Causes a statistically significant incidence of tumors, particularly brain gliomas, in male rats. What it's in: Colored beverages, candies, pet food, & other food and drugs.
- Citrus Red #2
It's toxic to rodents at modest levels and caused tumors of the urinary bladder and possibly other organs. What it's in: Skins of Florida oranges.
- Green #3 (Fast Green)
Caused significant increases in bladder and testes tumors in male rats. What it's in: Drugs, personal care products, cosmetic products except in eye area, candies, beverages, ice cream, sorbet; ingested drugs, lipsticks, and externally applied cosmetics.
- Red #3 (Erythrosine)
Recognized in 1990 by the FDA as a thyroid carcinogen in animals and is banned in cosmetics and externally applied drugs. What it's in: Sausage casings, oral medication, maraschino cherries, baked goods, candies.
- Red #40 (Allura Red)
This is the most-widely used and consumed dye. It may accelerate the appearance of immune-system tumors in mice. It also causes hypersensitivity (allergy-like) reactions in some consumers and might trigger hyperactivity in children. What it's in: Beverages, bakery goods, dessert powders, candies, cereals, foods, drugs, and cosmetics.
- Yellow #5 (Tartrazine)
Yellow 5 causes sometimes-severe hypersensitivity reactions and might trigger hyperactivity and other behavioral effects in children. What it's in: Pet foods, numerous bakery goods, beverages, dessert powders, candies, cereals, gelatin desserts, and many other foods, as well as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
- Yellow #6 (Sunset Yellow)
Caused adrenal tumors in animals and occasionally causes severe hypersensitivity reactions. What it's in: Color bakery goods, cereals, beverages, dessert powders, candies, gelatin deserts, sausage, cosmetics and drugs.
Dr. Mercola's Comments
Every year, food manufacturers pour 15 million pounds of artificial food dyes into U.S. foods -- and that amount only factors in eight different varieties, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
These dyes are so common in U.S. foods -- especially kids' foods -- that parents don't think twice about giving their children rainbow-colored cereal or fluorescent blue "juice," and adults don't consider bright orange cheese puffs out of the ordinary, either.
But you might do a double take if these food packages contained warnings detailing what these artificial food colorings may really be doing to your health, and that of your children.
Well, in the European Union at least, they do. As of July 2010, most foods in the EU that contain artificial food dyes were labeled with warning labels stating the food "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children." The British government also asked that food manufacturers remove most artificial colors from foods back in 2009.
In the United States, however, consumers are still snatching up artificially colored foods with fervor, as most are completely unaware of the risks involved … and let me just say, hyperactivity in children is only the tip of the iceberg.
Cancer and Other Serious Risks from Food Dyes Revealed In CSPI's summary of studies on food dyes, you can see that some of the most commonly used food dyes may be linked to numerous forms of cancer. CSPI reported:
"The three most widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are contaminated with known carcinogens … Another dye, Red 3, has been acknowledged for years by the Food and Drug Administration to be a carcinogen, yet is still in the food supply."
In their 58-page report, "Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks," CSPI revealed that nine of the food dyes currently approved for use in the United States are linked to health issues ranging from cancer and hyperactivity to allergy-like reactions -- and these results were from studies conducted by the chemical industry itself.
For instance, Red # 40, which is the most widely used dye, may accelerate the appearance of immune-system tumors in mice, while also triggering hyperactivity in children.
Blue # 2, used in candies, beverages, pet foods and more, was linked to brain tumors. And Yellow 5, used in baked goods, candies, cereal and more, may not only be contaminated with several cancer-causing chemicals, but it's also linked to hyperactivity, hypersensitivity and other behavioral effects in children.
As CSPI reported:
"Almost all the toxicological studies on dyes were commissioned, conducted, and analyzed by the chemical industry and academic consultants. Ideally, dyes (and other regulated chemicals) would be tested by independent researchers.
Furthermore, virtually all the studies tested individual dyes, whereas many foods and diets contain mixtures of dyes (and other ingredients) that might lead to additive or synergistic effects.
In addition to considerations of organ damage, cancer, birth defects, and allergic reactions, mixtures of dyes (and Yellow 5 tested alone) cause hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in some children.
… Because of those toxicological considerations, including carcinogenicity, hypersensitivity reactions, and behavioral effects, food dyes cannot be considered safe. The FDA should ban food dyes, which serve no purpose other than a cosmetic effect, though quirks in the law make it difficult to do so (the law should be amended to make it no more difficult to ban food colorings than other food additives).
In the meantime, companies voluntarily should replace dyes with safer, natural colorings."
Remember Why Food Colorings are Added to Foods in the First Place … If you need further incentive to ditch artificially colored foods from your diet, remember the reason they're added to processed foods in the first place: to make a food that would otherwise be an off-colored mess look appealing.
When foods are processed not only are valuable nutrients lost and fibers removed, but the texture, natural variation and flavors are lost also. After processing, what's actually left behind is a bland, uninteresting "pseudo-food" that most people would find entirely unappetizing.
So at this point, food manufacturers must add back in the nutrients, flavor, color and texture in order to make them desirable, and this is why they become loaded with food additives.
Most commonly, additives are included to:
- Slow spoilage
- Prevent fats and oils from becoming rancid or developing an off-flavor
- Prevent cut fruits from turning brown
- Fortify or enrich the food with synthetic vitamins and minerals (which are lost during processing)
- Improve taste, texture and appearance
Take one carefully designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the journal The Lancet. It concluded that a variety of common food dyes, and the preservative sodium benzoate -- found in many soft drinks, fruit juices and salad dressings -- do in fact cause some children to become measurably more hyperactive and distractible.
The study also found that the E-numbered food dyes do as much damage to children's brains as lead in gasoline, resulting in a significant reduction in IQ.
The results of this study were what prompted the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) to issue an immediate advisory to parents, warning them to limit their children's intake of additives if they notice an effect on behavior. As mentioned earlier, they also advised the food industry to voluntarily remove the six food dyes named in the study back in 2009, and replace them with natural alternatives if possible.
The United States, however, has not followed suit in issuing any similar warnings to American parents, even now two years later.
Stick to Naturally Colored Foods for Your Health Let me make it clear that your diet should include a range of vibrantly colored foods … but these foods should be the ones that are naturally rich in color. Red bell peppers, purple eggplant, green spinach, blueberries and rainbow chard are all examples of healthy foods whose bright colors are signs of the important nutrients they contain.
These are the food colors you need in your diet … not the man-made varieties found in most processed foods. The good news is avoiding artificial food dyes is incredibly easy -- just stick to whole fresh foods and avoid the processed ones.
Source : Dr. Mercola
LINK TO SOURCE
Do synthetic food colours cause hyperactivity? - critics blame the additives for triggering behavioral problems in youngsters
Thirty years on and the powers that be are still asking the same question? When will profit not take precedence to health?
Critics blame the additives for triggering behavioral problems in youngsters
A very informative article from the Chicago Tribune.......
Food coloring is the reason glace cherries are red rather than beige and that children's tongues sometimes appear freakishly blue. But man-made dyes may do more than make processed food look vibrant and whimsical. Some blame the additives for triggering behavioral problems in youngsters.
Acting on research published in the Lancet, the European Parliament last year began requiring products containing synthetic food colors to carry warning labels saying that "consumption may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children."
Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a March hearing on whether food dyes adversely impact children's health. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, or CSPI, is asking the agency for a synthetic food-dye ban and to place warnings on products until the colors are removed.
The dyes are often used to enhance the appearance of sugary cereals, candies, sodas, fruit-flavored snacks, fast food and other products that are aimed at children and have little nutritional value, the CSPI said in a citizen's petition signed by 18 physicians and researchers. Since naturally derived alternatives exist, the continued use is hardly worth any potential risk, it said.
"What's the benefit? To make junk food even more appealing to children than it already is?" asked CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson.
Other experts say food dyes, which require pre-market approval, are among the most tightly regulated additives on the market and there's little evidence for the long-suspected link between food colors and hyperactivity.
"The (synthetic food dyes) used in the U.S. are absolutely safe," said Joseph Borzelleca, a professor emeritus of pharmacology and toxicology at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. "Food colors are among the most thoroughly studied of the food ingredients."
That hasn't always been the case. Originally, naturally derived ingredients were used to make food look more appealing — saffron, for example, gave rice a yellow tint. In the 1850s, manufacturers began using long-lasting coal-tar dyes to brighten both fabric and food, a practice that sickened countless unsuspecting consumers.
Nearly 200 substances were in use when safety testing was finally required in 1960; only a handful survived the testing process.
Today, the nine synthetic hues approved for use in food — meaning they've been certified by the FDA — are used primarily to help restore the color washed away by industrial processing, even out natural variations and make foods look more appealing or "fun."
Manufacturers also can use dyes made from plant, animal or mineral sources, such as beets, caramel color or grape color extract, but the petroleum-based colors are cheaper and can be more consistent.
"The content of a natural color like grape skin varies, depending on where they're grown, the season, the kind of chemicals used and harvesting," said Borzelleca. "But with approved colors you're getting the same thing every time."
Synthetic food colors have been suspected of triggering behavioral problems in children since the 1970s, when pediatric allergist Ben Feingold began treating allergies by putting children on elimination diets, free of both synthetic food dyes and preservatives. But Feingold's ideas, now touted as a way to treat children with attention-deficit disorder, were never convincingly substantiated.
The issue resurfaced in 2007 after University of Southampton researchers reported in the Lancet that hyperactive behavior increased in two groups of children — age 3 and ages 8 and 9 — when they consumed two different mixtures of artificial colors, plus a preservative.
Unlike previous studies, the Southampton research found the effect in children from the general population, not just those whose parents suspected they were sensitive to food dyes. And the study didn't just rely on parental ratings of their children's behavior, which can be subject to bias; it also used ratings generated by teachers, researchers and computers.
The British Food Standards Agency, which commissioned the trial, subsequently advised concerned parents to reduce or eliminate six colorings from their children's diets. A committee of the European Parliament then voted to ban all synthetic dyes from foods consumed by babies and small children.
The FDA still maintains there's "no evidence" of a link between dyes and hyperactivity. When it reviewed the Southampton study, the agency "found no information to suggest that the behavioral changes noted were adverse, detrimental or maladaptive." One of the study's shortcomings, the FDA said, was that it used a mixture of color additives and the preservative sodium benzoate, making it impossible to know which individual additive was responsible for the effect.
The researchers, who have been invited to the March FDA panel, acknowledged that more studies are needed but disagree with the FDA's view that the effects were insufficient to warrant action.
While many factors can influence hyperactivity in children, including genes and environment, "there is good evidence that artificial food colors can also increase levels of hyperactivity," said Jim Stevenson, the study's lead author and professor emeritus in the school of psychology at the University of Southampton.
Certain food dyes, including FD&C Yellow No. 5, also can trigger allergic-type reactions in some people, but allergists note that many natural foods also can cause such symptoms.
"Some chemicals naturally present in strawberries, pineapples or some insecticides used on fruit also bother some people," said Michael B. Foggs, chief of allergy, asthma and immunology for Advocate Medical Group of Advocate Health Care. "Should children be forced to eat foods devoid of artificial coloring agents because a small percentage of children are bothered by recognizable side effects?"
The uncertainty over the evidence leaves parents with many questions and pediatricians with few answers.
Aaron Donnell, an allergist and pediatrician at Children's Memorial Hospital and Illinois Masonic Hospital, said that if parents have questions about attention-deficit disorder, he tells them that skin- or blood-testing won't help, but they can try removing gluten, sugar, dyes or preservatives from the child's diet. "At least half get some improvement by adjusting their diet," he said.
Soledad Erickson, a Chicago teacher, went to Donnell after she suspected food dyes were affecting two of her children. Daughter Marcella, 8, had severe mood swings, and Sydnie, 5, broke out in severe rashes.
Both girls improved after she removed the chemicals from their diet, she said.
"Marcella became more focused and pays attention," said Erickson, adding that signs of the old problems re-emerge when food dyes sneak back into the girls' diets. "She's so much happier and friendlier since I've taken out the dyes. If you met her last year, you'd never think this was the same child."
In Ari Goldstein's clinic, meanwhile, parents are often counseled on the potential benefits of dietary changes after children are diagnosed with learning difficulties or behavioral problems.
Goldstein, director of Cognitive Solutions Learning Center in Chicago and Highland Park, said he knows more research is needed. Still, he urges parents to "clean up" their children's diets, which included removing as many refined and processed foods as possible and incorporating whole foods.
"I've seen some cases where removal of synthetic dyes has improved behavior patterns tremendously; however, other dietary interventions were also in play," Goldstein said.
Some manufacturers and retailers already are moving to replace synthetic colorings with natural alternatives in their products. Both Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have pledged not to sell products with synthetic food colors. Starbucks doesn't permit dyes in its beverages or pastries, Necco has switched to safer natural colorings for its wafers and Frito-Lay is testing dye-free snack foods, according to CSPI.
Many companies have also reformulated products to adjust to the regulations in Europe. For example, Kellogg's strawberry Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars sold in the U.S. contain Red No. 40, Yellow No. 6 and Blue No. 1. But in the U.K., the cereal bars contain natural alternatives: beet root red, annatto and paprika extra.
"I don't think the dyes are good for anything," said Dr. Alan Greene, a clinical professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine who signed the CSPI petition. "The only benefit is to trick you into eating the food or to make it look healthier than it is."
Source : The Chicago Tribune
Link to Source
Do synthetic food colours cause hyperactivity? - critics blame the additives for triggering behavioral problems in youngsters