Society: What We Think of Colorful Food Society has become accustomed to believing that the bright colors in food equal better quality food.
We need to re-train ourselves to look at the labels and not just how appealing the food looks based on the color.
Dyes Come from Petroleum You may be surprised to find out that artificial dye comes from petroleum.
Although these dyes are considered safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an additive to our foods, there have been many studies that show a link between artificial dyes and many different diseases and disorders.
Many times these dyes are also contaminated with other chemicals through the manufacturing process.
Some of these chemicals are known to cause cancer.
Dyes Linked to Diseases Studies have shown a link between eating foods with artificial dyes and an incidence of ADHD, hyperactivity in children, cancer, sterility and other mutations.
Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of artificial dyes considering that many of the foods that children like the most are loaded with bright colors.
Some foods that contain artificial colors include cereal, boxed macaroni and cheese, candy, pickles, fruit snacks, and granola bars.
You will find artificial colors listed on food labels with the prefix FD&C (an example is FD&C Yellow #5).
Consumers Decide What is Safe We need to take a stand as consumers against buying products that contain added artificial dyes.
Since the FDA maintains their stance that these are safe to add to our foods, it's up to consumers to decide whether or not they agree and buy products accordingly.
There are many products available on the market that are made without adding any coloring; the companies making these foods have found a way of making their product look and taste great without these additives.
There are also many products that use naturally derived food dyes such as beet juice extract to color their food products.
Dyes in Other Countries It is interesting to note that governments in Europe have already made changes against the use of dyes in food.
Once there was a link made to adverse effects on children, these countries did not continue to support artificial dye use and didn't wait around for more studies to come to the same conclusion.
What Will You Do? I know I won't be waiting around for the U.
S.
government to tell me what is safe when I can make that leap and assume that anything derived from petroleum doesn't need to be on my plate or fed to my kids.
Find me on Facebook: My page is called Mom On A Health Hunt
We need to re-train ourselves to look at the labels and not just how appealing the food looks based on the color.
Dyes Come from Petroleum You may be surprised to find out that artificial dye comes from petroleum.
Although these dyes are considered safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an additive to our foods, there have been many studies that show a link between artificial dyes and many different diseases and disorders.
Many times these dyes are also contaminated with other chemicals through the manufacturing process.
Some of these chemicals are known to cause cancer.
Dyes Linked to Diseases Studies have shown a link between eating foods with artificial dyes and an incidence of ADHD, hyperactivity in children, cancer, sterility and other mutations.
Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of artificial dyes considering that many of the foods that children like the most are loaded with bright colors.
Some foods that contain artificial colors include cereal, boxed macaroni and cheese, candy, pickles, fruit snacks, and granola bars.
You will find artificial colors listed on food labels with the prefix FD&C (an example is FD&C Yellow #5).
Consumers Decide What is Safe We need to take a stand as consumers against buying products that contain added artificial dyes.
Since the FDA maintains their stance that these are safe to add to our foods, it's up to consumers to decide whether or not they agree and buy products accordingly.
There are many products available on the market that are made without adding any coloring; the companies making these foods have found a way of making their product look and taste great without these additives.
There are also many products that use naturally derived food dyes such as beet juice extract to color their food products.
Dyes in Other Countries It is interesting to note that governments in Europe have already made changes against the use of dyes in food.
Once there was a link made to adverse effects on children, these countries did not continue to support artificial dye use and didn't wait around for more studies to come to the same conclusion.
What Will You Do? I know I won't be waiting around for the U.
S.
government to tell me what is safe when I can make that leap and assume that anything derived from petroleum doesn't need to be on my plate or fed to my kids.
Find me on Facebook: My page is called Mom On A Health Hunt