Thursday, September 10, 2009

Food Coloring - Demystified....


Avoid it! for you, for your kids! It's insidious and you can easily eliminate it from your diet.
Cancer, Asthma, Allergies, Hyperactivity, NO THANKS!

Here's the scoop.....

There are basically seven, 7, only SEVEN what they call "certifiable" food colorings that are permissable in food production.

CERTIFIABLE = CHEMICALS = DON'T EAT IT!

Being designated as Classified Colors they must be listed on the ingredients list by name.
They are...

Blue # 1 (Brilliant Blue)
Blue #2 (Indigotine)
Green #3 (Fast Green)
Red #3 (Erythrosine)
Red #40 (Allura Red)
Yellow #5 (Tartrazine)
Yellow #6 (Sunset Yellow)

Here's WHY you want to avoid the CERTIFIABLE Colors....

They are derived from..........drumroll please....

Petroleum Distillates or Coal Tar!

What will that do to you?

Following dye info from foodreactions.org

(annotations by moi....)

Red #3 can increase thyroid hormone levels and lead to hyperthyroidism, was shown to cause thyroid cancer in rats in a study in 1990; banned inUK January 1990, but not recalled by the US FDA**; banned in Norway

This kills me!$% Thyroid Cancer, come on...how is this acceptable!

FD&C Red No.40; Orange-red colour used in sweets, drinks and condiments, medications and cosmetics, synthetic; introduced in the early eighties to replace amaranth which was considered not safe due to conflicting test results; allura red has also been connected with cancer in mice; banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and Norway
Are you kidding me - CANCER! Gee thanks, let's bundle them up and send them to school with a nice yummy dose of CANCER!

FD&C Yellow No.6; used in cereals, bakery, sweets, snack foods, ice cream, drinks and canned fish; synthetic; also in many medications including Polaramine, Ventolin syrup; side effects are urticaria (hives), rhinitis (runny nose), nasal congestion, allergies, hyperactivity, kidney tumours, chromosomal damage, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, indigestion, distaste for food; seen increased incidence of tumours in animals; banned in Norway

more cancer! and other great stuff!

FD&C Yellow No.5; known to provoke asthma attacks (though the US FDA** do not recognise this) and urticaria (nettle rash) in children (the US FDA** estimates 1:10 000); also linked to thyroid tumours, chromosomal damage, urticaria (hives) and hyperactivity; tartrazine sensitivity is also linked to aspirin sensitivity; used to colour drinks, sweets, jams, cereals, snack foods, canned fish, packaged soups; banned in Norway and Austria

more Thyroid TUMOURS! had enough, are we done yet or are we willing to accept Thyroid Tumours as just a price we have to pay for a yummy treat!

FD&C Blue No.2, commonly added to tablets and capsules; also used in ice cream, sweets, baked goods, confectionary, biscuits, synthetic coal tar derivative; may cause nausea, vomiting, high blood pressure, skin rashes, breathing problems and other allergic reactions. Banned in Norway

Here's a new one.....High Blood Pressure! yippee!!!

FD&C Blue Dye No.1; used in dairy products, sweets and drinks, synthetic usually occurring as aluminium lake (solution) or ammonium salt; banned in Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Norway

ARE YOU THERE YET? MAD YET? C'mon LET'S DO SOMETHING!


WHAT CAN WE DO?

1) READ THE LABEL and don't buy anything that specifically mentions a color and number. Remember that they have to use the FD&C color number. That's an easy Rule to remember!

following exerpt from Red#40.com

If a certified color is used, it must be explicitly declared on the ingredient list, as "FD&C Red Dye #40" or "Red 40" So if you are reading a products list of ingredients and all you see is the nonspecific "artificial color" then you can be sure it's not a certified color. It may be beet juice extract, it might be carmine or it could be caramel color, but it's certain that it's not Red40.

2) CHOOSE BETTER PRODUCTS - because every time you make a purchase you're casting a vote. Somewhere, someone is looking at those numbers. Let them know by voting with your $$$$. Check everything! It's out there in your Doritos, Fruit Loops, Ice Cream, Cheese. Check the product labeled "Natural". It can be in there too!

3) Drop them a line! Why not let them know what you want. There are alternative or exempt colors that are made from natural plant, animal, and mineral sources. I'd much rather eat something colored from beets wouldn't you?

So in closing, with EYES WIDE OPEN.....PLEASE...........Do Something!

We all really need to take back our food system. It's supposed to be nourishment, ya know, fuel for the body, fuel for growing brains, etc..... It's not supposed to slowly kill us with screwed up thyroids, high blood pressure, hyperactivity and the BIG C....Cancer. No wonder we're all tired, sluggish, pudgy, and lumpy. We don't stand a chance when these things are slipped in while we're too busy raising our kids, going to work, just trying to live.........

This Rant brought to you by......MaryAnn

p.s. you can read more at the links above for foodreactions.org and red40.com

There's lots of info out there related to hyperactivity and A.D.H.D. Some dyes have even been banned successfully as a result of public outcry.

2 comments:

Sue said...

Sometimes the effects of artificial color and other food additives can be even more immediate, but too often, they are misunderstood. This is especially true in children, whose small bodies are not so well-equipped to deal with these toxins. They will exhibit hyperactive behaviors because their bodies are literally fighting off the poisons that they have recently ingested.

In some cases, this can be misdiagnosed as ADD. Our son was diagnosed with ADD in 4th grade, but we noticed that there were times when he could focus -- a sure sign that there was another cause for his problems.

After a lot of Googling, I came across http://www.feingold.org. I read all of their materials and learned of the connection between food additives and behavior.

We put my son on an elimination diet for a week and after the first day, he was FINE. No symptoms at all that week. After the week was up, we tried an experiment and gave him an orange soda and some Skittles. Within 30 minutes, he was a monster. He was anxious, agitated, and combative. He argued with everything that I said. When I tried to reign him in, he stormed off to his room, screaming that he wanted to die and slamming his door repeatedly.

That's all it took to convince me. The next day, my son and I ransacked the kitchen and threw out everything with artificial color. You wouldn't believe the some of the foods that contained it:

- Aunt Jemima Waffles Buttermilk (but not Homestyle)
- Ovaltine Rich Chocolate (but not Chocolate Malt)
- Martins Potato Bread
- Every jar of pickles that we had.
- Edy's Frozen Fruit Pops -- just the lime ones.

I have been able to find a dye-free version of every one of those products and all the other ones that we used to use. It took some research, but it has not been a hardship at all. The bonus is that every substitution tastes better than the dyed version.

Our local Shop Rite supermarkets have a section called "Live Right" with lots of wonderful, additive-free foods, but there are dye-free options throughout the rest of the market as well.

I have also found our schools to be very supportive our decision to be dye-free. Every year, I write this on their medical forms under the "allergy" section -- where other parents might write about peanuts or dairy. Our schools are vigilant about these allergies and I've never had a problem with anyone even offering my kids a food with dye.

I can't tell you what a difference this has made to our family. Once we removed artificial colors from all of our diets, I noticed that I feel better and calmer. I also noticed that my daughter didn't have as many tantrums as she had before and the ones that she did have were more manageable (and less unreasonable).

If you have any interest in trying to get these toxins out of your house, your diet, and your life, I strongly encourage you to order the Feingold materials for yourself. They provide a free sample of their book here: http://www.feingold.org/Whyone.pdf

But I suggest you invest in the whole book. Once we had the dye situation under control, we also found out that he had a vision problem that can be difficult to detect. I wouldn't have known to look for it if it wasn't for that book.

Chews Your Food! said...

Sue,

Thanks so much for sharing your inspiring story. We applaud you for taking charge of your children's health!!! It's amazing how many products contain food dyes. What's equally amazing is that most of us don't even realize we're consuming these poisonous ingredients.

We are indeed lucky that Shop Rite has a good variety of healthy alternatives to choose from.
The feingold site looks like a great resource and I for one will be getting the book. I hope your story inspires others to banish products that contain unhealthy food dyes!

Thanks for the great info!