No Blue, Green, Red and Yellow

Image via WikipediaWe really try to limit artificial colors, flavors, etc in our foods. Partly we do this because we've seen the difference these things make on behavior (mine, growing up, and my kids'). We also do this because I don't like the idea of eating something made from petroleum. Call me crazy.... We used to think that kids were "allergic" to the colors. Maybe not so?

More than 90% of food colorings now in use are synthetic. According to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), “nine synthetic food dyes, mostly petroleum-derived, are U.S.-approved for use in foods under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938 (FD&C). [Down from roughly 80 at the turn of the 20th century.] (Pigments from natural sources are exempt from FDA certification.) Over the last three decades, repeated studies have concluded that modest doses of synthetic colors added to foods can provoke hyperactivity and other disturbed behavior in children. The effect—contrary to popular conception—is not allergic; it does not appear more commonly in allergy-prone or ‘atopic’ children.”

From Just Say No to Blue, Green, Red and Yellow | Healthy Child Healthy World

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