Hyperactivity: Maybe it’s not the sugar, but artificial dyes
By Bob Condor
As the DHB pointed out in a previous entry, Michael Jacobson and other highly engaged folks at the Center for Science in the Public Interest have been fighting the good (food) fight for three decades.
They always find something new and important to er, put on our plates.
This past week CSPI served up artificial dyes that still remain in many foods, calling the dyes “the secret shame” of both food manufacturers and federal Food and Drug Administration regulators.
Jacobson explained the food dyes, including Yellow 5 and Red 40 among eight major offenders, are linked in research studies to hyperactivity and behavior problems in children. CSPI officially petitioned the FDA and noted the United Kingdom is already phasing out most of the eight dyes. The other offending dyes are Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3 and Yellow 6.
The United Kingdom ban emerged after two recent studies funded by the British government linking the behavioral disruption caused by dyes, plus a common preservative, sodium benzoate. What’s most notable is the British studies cover a general population of children and not just kids whose parents suspect dyes.
Jacobson told the DHB that some parents suspect their children’s hyperactivity is about sugar when artificial dyes might be the true culprit.
“The purpose of these chemicals is often to mask the absence of real food, to increase the appeal of a low-nutrition product to children, or both,” said Jacobson, the long-time executive director of CSPI. “Who can tell the parents of kids with behavioral problems that this is truly worth the risk?”
And if you think, oh, we must be phasing out artificial dyes in our diets to some degree, right? Too many people (especially parents) know about it, right?
class=”MsoNormal”>Not exactly.
According to the FDA’s own figures, the amount of food dye certified for use was 12 milligrams per capita per day in 1955. In 2007, 59 milligrams per capita per day, or nearly five times as much, was federally certified for use. Dyes are used in countless foods and are sometimes used to simulate the color of fruits or vegetables.
One example from CSPI: The Kraft-brand guacamole dip gets its greenish color not from avocados (there are almost none) but from Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Blue 1.
Another, then I’ll stop: The blue bits in Aunt Jemima Blueberry Waffles are blue thanks to Red 40 and Blue 2, not real blueberries.
Yeech.
OK, one more example: Fruit-by-the-Foot by General Mills gets it fruity colors from Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40 and Blue 1.
Like many CSPI initiatives, the artificial dyes petition is co-signed by prominent health practitioners, in this case a range of psychiatrists, toxicologists and pediatricians.
It’s a start and a good one for a food/health issue that has lingered and even expanded for 30 years.
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“Bob Condor is the Daily Health Blogger for Barton Publishing. He is also the Living Well columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He covers natural health and quality of life issues and writes regularly for national magazines, including Life, Esquire, Parade, Self, and Outside. He is a former syndicated health columnist for the Chicago Tribune and author of six books, including “The Good Mood Diet” and “Your Prostate Cancer Survivors' Guide.” He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and two 11-year-old kids.”
It’s great to see that consumers are finally learning about the damage from synthetic food dyes.
Over the years, most of them have been banned as health hazards, but the few remaining ones have stubbornly survived.
Few people know what these colors actually are. Originally artificial food dyes were made from coal tar, but today they come from crude oil; most of the dyes in American food originate in petroleum refineries in China!
Not only are they linked to behavior and learning problems, but they have been shown to cause: nerve damage, reproductive damage, immune system damage, respiratory problems, headaches, as well as DNA damage and cancer. See http://www.diet-studies.com.
The good news is that synthetic dyes are entirely unnecessary. The non-profit Feingold Association has been helping families since 1976. The Association researches brand name foods and publishes books listing thousands of products of all types that are free of the unwanted additives. See http://www.ADHDdiet.org.
Lollipops, jelly beans, gummy bears, ice cream, cookies, chocolates, marshmallows are among the sugary treats that can be enjoyed by kids (hopefully, in moderation) and can be found in natural versions.