Rainbow foods

So recently in my nutrition course we had to write an essay on any topic of our choice, food related of course. You always here how you should 'eat the rainbow' as far as fruits and veggies go, but whats in your food when people decide to take this to other foods? I was amazed to learn about not only all of the preservatives and chemicals in food but also the dyes and how we really don't need them in there at all!

Before I share my essay with you, I just want to challenge you to read labels...always! During the course of this project I learned that most pickles are filled with food dyes! Look for stores in your area that are proactive, I've found that Natural Grocers won't sell any products with artificial dyes in them.

The Effects of Food Dyes in Our Foods

I chose to focus my research on the dyes in our foods in America and what effect they have on not only us, as adults, but more importantly on our children and their futures. Many don’t know that the nine most common dyes used in almost all conventional foods from the grocery stores are actually banned in most other countries, like Norway and Austria. Even the European Union requires some of these food dyes to carry a warning label. That is pretty startling to me, when I first learned this fact I began to think that maybe that is why my 6 year old daughter has had bowel issues since she was 2 and switched from breastmilk to food completely. I began to conduct my own experiments to see if this could be some of her problem. I was amazed to see that foods containing dyes did in fact cause her to have stomach pain and loose stools. Not only did they have an impact on her bowels, but her attitude had changed significantly for the better once the dyes were eliminated. Red dyes seemed to have the biggest impact on her as well as the yellow dyes. When trying to weed them out of our diet it became tricky because they are literally in everything, even pickles!

Some other researchers have also thought there could be a correlation with food dyes and our health. The first study I looked at was conducted by the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health. They found that all 9 of the dyes that are currently approved for consumption in the United States do in fact cause health problems. They also found that Red seemed to be the worse, with Red 3 causing cancer in the animal test subjects. Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 were found to have either benzidine or other harmful carcinogens in them (Kobylewski & Jacobson, 2012). These three as well as Blue 1 were found to cause hypersensitivity reactions, much like my daughter had displayed. Citrus Red 2 and orange B are commonly used on Florida oranges also showed concerning toxicities (Kobylewski & Jacobson, 2012). The study results suggest that there is much more information needed before consuming these dyes and the fact that they add zero nutritional value is helpful for encouragement to find alternative methods (Kobylewski & Jacobson, 2012).

Another article provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Science had some similar information. They focused they’re article more on the adverse side effects to children and their behavior. Currently the FDA doesn’t require any manufactures to test the dyes for hypersensitivity developmentally. Weiss states in the article, “Their inaction amounts to approval of an ongoing experiment with children” (Potera, C, 2010). This statement is pretty alarming! Because of the known carcinogens and side effects of these dyes many other countries are switching to alternative dying methods, in the UK soda is dyed by using pumpkin and carrot extracts, while here in the US Red 40 dye is used (Potera, C, 2010) . The three most commonly used dyes contain benzidene, according to Weiss. Benzidene is a known carcinogen to both animals and humans (Potera, C, 2010).

Something else that I had learned about briefly was caramel coloring. I didn’t really learn more, other than it should be avoided and that it is in many coffee creamers, coffee, and soy and teriyaki sauces. So when I found another article also by the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health I was intrigued to learn more! They had found that caramel coloring are not only manufactured in ammonia catalysts but that they also contain both 2 and 40 methylimidazoles which have been shown to cause cancer (Jacobson, 2012). Many instances where the caramel coloring is they exceed the federal guideline amounts. The article notes that in the state of California it is required for food labels to state if they have ingredients that may cause cancer and caramel coloring is one of them if, according to the US food and drug administration, if more than 30 micrograms per day (Jacobson, 2012).

A study conducted at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne showed that with the ingestion of benzione and tartrazine will cause behavioral changes in some children (Rowe, 1988). These changes include but weren’t limited to irritability, sleep issues, and restlessness. These changes were shown within 6 different doses, so from small to large amounts. In those who ingested larger amounts (above 10 mg) the side effects lasted much longer. The children studied were aged 2-14 and were looked at over a 21 day period (Rowe, 1988).

After learning of this I got to thinking, these dyes side effects must be past to our children in-utero, right? That’s when I found a study conducted on rats and the multigenerational effects of artificial food dyes. The results of the study made me sick to my stomach. I was one of the ‘I’m eating for two’ or ‘more Krispy Kreme’s and M&M’s please’ kind of pregnant lady and now I know the terrible effects on the unborn child that it can have. The results of the study concluded that most issues arose at about 13 months of age for the rats, they showed increase stress levels as well as behavioral issues compared to the rats whose mothers didn’t have the artificial food dyes. Aside from that the rats with multigenerational use of food dyes also showed to have a decreased lifespan. This alone should make us rethink artificial dyes.

In conclusion, my original gut instinct was headed in the right direction and until further research is conducted into the use of food dyes I will not have them in our household. I agree with the UK and other countries using more natural methods if dye is really necessary. It’s disheartening to know that no requirements of testing are in place for these food manufactures and that our children are literally being used as test subjects. I think that by cutting out these petroleum based dyes our children’s quality of life will excel, they will be getting better sleep, digestion, and overall happier thoughts! By cutting these out, I believe that the amount of attention disorders would dramatically decrease.

References:

Erickson, Z. T., Falkenberg, E. A., & Metz, G. A. S. (2014). Lifespan Psychomotor Behaviour Profiles of Multigenerational Prenatal Stress and Artificial Food Dye Effects in Rats. PLoS ONE, 9(6), e92132. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0092132

Jacobson, M. F. (2012). Carcinogenicity and regulation of caramel colorings. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 18(3), 254–259. doi:10.1179/1077352512z.00000000031

Kobylewski, S., & Jacobson, M. F. (2012). Toxicology of food dyes. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 18(3), 220–246. doi:10.1179/1077352512z.00000000034

Potera, C. (2010). DIET AND NUTRITION: The Artificial Food Dye Blues. Environmental Health Perspectives, 118(10), A428.

Rowe KS. Synthetic food colourings and “hyperactivity”: A double-blind crossover study. Aust Paediatr J. 1988;24:143–147.

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