Artificial Food Dyes

That strawberry yogurt is the perfect shade of pink, the red velvet cake is the perfect shade of red, the wheat bun looks so healthy with the dark brown shade, and the boxed cereal has many vibrant colors.  It’s all a science.  They have tested and perfected what makes food look most desirable but this science comes at a cost to its consumers.  Many food dyes have been linked to cancer, hyperactivity, asthma, and more.  The scary thing is many food dyes are still in the food at the supermarket and in restaurants and being produced in higher quantities than ever before.

Many years ago foods were colored using natural resources, such as beets, spinach, carrots, and saffron.  Then scientists stepped in and found chemical compositions to color food at less cost to the companies and making food look more appealing than ever before.  Now many food dyes are made from coal tar derivatives, or commonly known as petroleum.  How about a little coal tar in your morning cereal?  It doesn’t only sound unappetizing wait until you hear to side effects of food dyes, this will make you sick.

For years certain colors have been ban after finding they cause tumors, ADD, and other chromosomal damage.  But there are still many allowed in food here in America.  Many of those allowed here have already been banned in Europe after finding links to cancer, asthma, hives, and behavioral disorders.   Caramel coloring has recently come under fire after studies on lab mice and rats showed it caused liver, lung, or thyroid cancer and leukemia.  In the 1970′s Dr. Feingold started looking at the link between red #40 and ADD and ADHD here in United States.  For over 30 years there has been an ongoing debate about it’s safety in our foods but it is still in there and in record portions.  In 2009, about 20 million pounds of food dyes were approved to go into our food.

Why is this still being debated?  Shouldn’t we demand safer food here in the United States as Europe and the UK have done?  A petition to remove food dyes was sent to the FDA in June 2008 by the Center for Science in the Public Interest but currently there has been no action from the FDA.  And in February of this year they sent another petition to remove caramel coloring but no change yet.  Make your voice heard, do you want this stuff in your food?  Food dyes are in almost everything at the store now.  Read the labels, you will be surprised what you see.

Victoria