In 1976, consumers felt like they were in a horror movie when the FDA announced that the red dye “amaranth” was a carcinogen. Suddenly shoppers everywhere were running from all things red! And the manufacturers jumped on board, too. Remember when the makers of m&m’s made a big to-do and quit producing the red chocolate candies and replaced them with orange ones?

But every good horror film has a sequel and so does the frightening tale of food coloring. Today food manufacturers no longer use amaranth -- but they do use Red 40 as well as Yellow 5, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3 and Yellow 6.

And here’s the scary part: Recent British studies have linked these artificial food colorings to behavioral disorders in children. That’s right. The increasing number of children diagnosed with ADD, ADHD and other disorders may be in part a result of our children’s artificially colored diet.

The UK and parts of Europe responded immediately to these studies and have begun phasing out these artificial food colorings. And once again, the food makers have jumped on the bandwagon – but only when forced to. Kraft and Mars have removed these dangerous dyes in foods sold to the UK. Apparently, American customers aren’t screaming loud enough, because the very same products sold in the good old USA still contain these harmful food colorings. It’s enough to give you nightmares!

Reality Check

Despite the evidence that color-enhanced foods are dangerous for our kids, the FDA refuses to ban it from our foods. What’s worse still is that food manufacturers are using these colorful chemicals 5 times more than they were 30 years ago!

The FDA insists that Americans want brightly colored foods, but what we really want is to protect our children. So if the government won’t help us eliminate these harmful additives from our diets, we have to take matters into our own hands!

Shopper-In- Control Guidelines

Here’s all the information you need about food coloring to help you keep your diet natural and your kids safe.

1.  Avoid these food dyes at all costs:

Red 3
Red 40
Yellow 5
Yellow 6.
Blue 1
Blue 2
Green 3
Orange B

2.  Some manufacturers are sneaky about listing ingredients under unusual names.  Learn these aliases for food colorings, so you won’t fall prey to their tricks!

Allura Red AC (a/k/a Red 40)
Erythrosine (a/k/a Red 3)
Indigotine (a/k/a Blue 2)
Tartrazine (a/k/a Yellow 5)

3.  Sometimes you will see “lakes” listed as an ingredient. This ingredient is also harmful food coloring -- in its water-insoluble form.

4.  It is possible to find foods that are naturally, colorfully enhanced. These additives offer a safer color boost:

Beet juice
Annatto (plant-derived)
Turmeric (rich in antioxidants!)

5. You expect to find these color enhancers in the usual junk food like candies, ice cream, cakes etc.  But where you don’t expect to find them is in healthier foods like:

Yogurt
Cheese
Juice
Vitamin water

Bottom line: Artificial food dyes are dangerous – end of story. Read labels and avoid these harmful dyes at all costs. You’ll have calmer kids and sweet dreams once again!