Is the Red 40 Food Dye Additive Having a Negative Impact on Your Child?
Children are most often the ones who have sensitivity to red 40, whether or not their parents have realized it or not. Reactions include temper tantrums, hyperactivity, aggressive behavior, uncontrollable crying and screaming, kicking, nervousness, dizziness, inability to concentrate and sit still among other findings. Physically you may get frequent headaches or migraines, upset stomach and feel ill after ingesting this additive. Often when Red 40 is eliminated from the child's diet a remarkable change is noticed immediately.
Red 40 is used in many food products including kool-aid, orange and other flavored sodas, cheetos and dorito chips, strawberry pop-tarts, any candy with red coloring to it including m&m's, skittles, many chewing gums, etc. Also many children's vitamins and pain relievers/cold medicine have red 40 in the ingredients.
When red 40 was first approved by the FDA as a food coloring additive there was some controversy as to whether or not it caused tumors and cancer. Those claims have been proven to be false but now many parents, Doctors and Teachers are becoming aware of other concerns regarding intake of red 40, especially in young children.
Many times consumable products include both high amounts of sugar as well as red #40 so it can be hard to determine if the child's behavior or reaction is because of the sugar or because of the food dye. Both can cause similar results but it is clear that red 40 can be a culprit on it's own as similar results occur when sugar is not present. Children who have been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) generally have significant improvements of their behavior and ability to concentrate when artificial additives such as red food dye is removed from their diet. Red 40 can also affect adults; it is a common trigger for migraines. It can also cause an upset stomach and make you feel uncomfortable and jittery.
Of course not all bad behavior and ADHD are a result of food dyes but it can most definitely be a contributing factor and is one worth looking into. Red 40 is not an essential part of our diet, it's quite the opposite. Red #3 and Red #40 are the two food coloring additives approved for use in food (by the FDA) yet if they were sprayed on weeds they would work as a pesticide. Many parents have had success in eliminating red 40 from their child's diet, the results have been favorable.
It's hard to get away from this food dye completely as it's in a large number of products. Always read the ingredient label and anytime you see the word "red" be cautious. Often those sensitive to red food dyes also have reactions to yellow. Inform your child's school and teacher, daycare and babysitters so they are aware of a possible reaction. So much of convenience and junk food geared towards children contains harmful additives and dyes. Educate your children about what they should look for, so they know red 40 is not something they should consume.
Published by Katherine M.
mama, wife, student View profile
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- Red 40 is a commonly used food coloring dye added to a variety of products.
- Children are most often the ones who have sensitivity to red 40, whether or not their parents have realized it or not.
- Reactions include temper tantrums, hyperactivity, aggressive behavior, uncontrollable crying and screaming, kicking, nervousness, dizziness, inability to concentrate.
124 Comments
Post a CommentTo Iron Angel6/17/2011; it's not necessarily the high cost of living in a different sense. And whether you accept things like red40 or not can be irrelevant to a happier life; people can just have a different lifestyle while not accepting things like red40. And there's always the supply and demand concept that can make a difference in products readily available to us.
The rest of the world need to follow suit with England and just eliminate red dye in all food and anyone who does want it can add it themselves. I don't care if, for example, my cherry Kool-Aid is red if it still taste like cherry Kool-Aid without the dye, same with other products.
The rest of the world need to follow suit with England and just eliminate red dye in all food and anyone who does want it can add it themselves. I don't care if, for example, my cherry Kool-Aid is red if it still taste like cherry Kool-Aid without the dye, same with other products.
To "A concerned stranger"
FYI it has been ban in England.
You know the country that ban lean paint 20 years before the US did.
Why don't you have any sources? Without credible sources, I am not going to trust the accuracy of your article.
I'm not sure if this should cause such a panic in people -- our government allows us to be poisoned quite often anyway -- but I do believe natural is always better. When in doubt, grow/make it yourself. From my own experience, my sister has a bad skin reaction to foods with red dyes. I myself have an interesting reaction to it, most notably orange kool-aid. I get extremely hyper and just plain silly. It's a party ritual for someone in the family to make a gallon of it and keep my cup filled simply for the entertainment value. No joke. It's really the only side effect I have, though. My other sister has no reaction, nor does the rest of my family.
I want what's best for the future, but I don't approve of spreading panic. It benefits no one. Remember: Toothpaste causes cancer. Too much sun causes cancer. Cellphones cause cancer. The world ends for someone everyday. That's the high cost of living, folks. Accept it and you'll live a happier life.
My daughter has a bad skin reaction to red 40. I recently heard a report that it can be in every day products like butter and not even state it. When a product is nothing but bad, it should be taken out of every item. As a parent there is nothing worse then seeing a child suffer and this product is really unnecessary!
Just a note to the public, this article is heavily over-dramatized and overstating the problem. The science backing up this point of view is currently very shaky, and, furthermore, it does not support an effect of this magnitude. This entire article is a small nugget of wisdom surrounded by festering layers of overreaction-ism and fear-mongering. Doubt its statements, and research further into the science behind it. Especially considering how difficult it is to avoid consuming Red 40.
Red dye is truly a terrible thing to feed our children. It actually caused anaphalytic shock in my grandson. Now that he is much bigger he does not have such severe problems, but his mouth itches severely if he gets some by accident. Red dye is also in many white products (ex: cake mix and soap), so read everything. It can also be absorbed through the skin, so be careful of fingerpaints, soaps, and playdough. Many child care providers and teachers feel that this is silly, so you must advocate for your child and teach them early what to avoid.
I have tried to restrict the red dye from my son's diet as much as possible. Also beware of artificial flavorings can cause a problem. It is really hard to find clear medications. I use the diabetic versions of some medications because they have no sugar or dye.