# why is food coloring bad?



## ja mama (Sep 6, 2003)

I guess I'm looking for the research to back up my own feelings. We don't do food coloring/ food dye in packaged food for the boys at all. It's been easy to eliminate, but I have never really looked into the studies. I've heard it's a petroleum by-product and that several years ago the carcinogenic ones were taken off the market. I've watched normal children become crazed after eating it. But I've never really looked into it's physically damaging properties.

Really I've just always had my own deep feelings that it's about as unnatural as it can get, and serves no purpose to the consumer. It's all about marketing. It doesn't make food taste, smell, or feel better (texture). And clearly if it's marketing, they don't care how it affects us. I just don't like eating foods that aren't "real". It's not a food thing at all.

Does anyone know anything that's not simply heresay, or know where to look for studies?


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## hahamommy (Dec 18, 2001)

Okay, pure anecdotal info here, but I did read in my Reflexology for the Whole Family book that yellow food coloring is the most common allergy AND the number one cause of bedwetting in school-aged children... viola! no yellow/green/orange = no pee-pee in the bed








I'm interested, too, to see if there are any *formal* studies done.
~diana


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## sabrosina (Jun 23, 2003)

They are carcinogenic. (cancer causing) and in most other industrial nations they are banned. I found a link somewhere recently I'll go dig it up.

FOOD COLORING
Synthetic color adds nothing to nutritional value. Numerous colors have been banned after twenty years on the market, only to discover that they were carcinogenic.

All certified food colors in use today are of a class of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are universally suspect as carcinogenic. The FDA argues that food coloring is safe because it causes cancer only when injected into rats, not when they are feeding on it. Therefore, the FDA gives manufacturers the freedom to use food coloring at their discretion. Children are attracted to bright colors. Fruit loops, gum balls, popsicles and fruit drinks are mostly color and sugar. The food industry is making millions on selling chemical substances that have zero value to life.

Thats an clip from a whole article I found.. not the one I was looking for, but what I found. Google the subject.. you'll learn LOADS.


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## Aura_Kitten (Aug 13, 2002)

i don't know about carcinogenic properties, but personally i avoid them because they're _gross_. i mean really, do you want to put something in your body that's petroleum-based? that's disgusting! blegggh. i avoid plastic because of the ties to the petroleum industry, and because it doesn't break down, and it seems like a natural offshoot of that to avoid certain foods for the same reasons. or should i say, "food" because i don't consider food colorings real food.

i'm sorry i can't point you to any scientific studies about this. i would, however, suggest you read Fast Food Nation if you haven't already, and look up the Feingold diet, which has information on these chemicals.

there are better ways to bring color to what you eat, bake, or otherwise make, without using artificial dyes. try coffee, tea, various herbs, roots, or things like rose hips. (rose hips produce one of my favorite colors...)


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## milk4two (Mar 20, 2003)

My child is allergic to red dye and I've read that many people are allergic to yellow dye.


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## gardenmom (Apr 9, 2003)

Mothering Magazine had an article about food additives a few months back...I'll try to figure out which issue or maybe one of the mod's can help us out??? It also brought the Feingold diet up, though they don't have much information available on their web site unless you pay to become a member and get their newsletters, etc. (which I found a little bit aggravating)







:

Anyhow, heres an interesting food additives info sheet I found on line a while back and have in my 'favorites' as a reference:
http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm

It doesn't have a lot of info about where the additives come from or what they are made from, and I'm not sure what criteria they use to determine 'safe' vs not safe...but it's a good starting point...


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## Jane (May 15, 2002)

Food dyes are coal-tar dyes, from a petroleum product. They are carcinogenic, but not terribly much so. Anything that's inedible in large quanities is not good for lab animals or cells. They are obviously pretty active in the body, what with all the sensitivities.
I don't think they are harmful to eat, but I avoid them because they are not safe for the workers that make the food. They are exposed to the chemicals every day, airborn, and particulated. Those are the people on the front lines with their health.
If I don't buy it, they won't have to make as much.


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## HomeBirthMommy (Mar 15, 2003)

Gardenmom-thanks for that link. Lots of great info.


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## ja mama (Sep 6, 2003)

Wow, Gardenmom. That's an interesting link. Thank you for all the info. I've heard so often that these things aren't good for you, but I never hear why not, or what studies really show.


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## Eddie's Mom (Jan 31, 2004)

I got this in my Health Tips newsletter today and came here thinking this was the place to post it. I was glad to see that there was already a thread on food coloring...

FOOD COLORINGS AFFECT CHILDREN

Scientists say artificial food coloring and preservatives
affect the level of hyperactivity in very young children.
The study, reported in Archives of Disease in Childhood,
shows removal of the substances could benefit public health.
In the study of 1,800 3-year-olds, the scientists had the
youngsters eating additive-free food the first week. During
the second and fourth weeks, the children were assigned to
a daily dose of fruit juice, with or without colorings and
preservatives. Parents' reports showed children became
significantly less hyperactive during the period when the
additives were removed from the diet, and much more hyper-
active when they were put back in.


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## ja mama (Sep 6, 2003)

There are plenty of theories in our house being talked about. Is our 4 year old more sensitive than average children to food coloring because he's never had it, except on a couple of rare occasions. Or would more children be lower key than they are if they also didn't eat it. But so far, I don't think it affects our 2 year old at all, but he's only had it twice and not much either time.

I know I heard some blurb on hyperactivity being linked to food coloring years ago. It was in the text of, when kids eat a lot of surary treats and get all haywire, it's actually not the sugar, it's the artificial colorings.


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