FDA ignores dangers of food coloring

Dear Friend,

Consumer advocacy groups are working overtime trying to get the FDA to wake up to the dangers of artificial food colorings—especially for children. As usual, the FDA has turned a deaf ear. The consumer advocacy groups claim these additives could cause hyperactivity and behavior problems in some children.

As you know, I'm not the biggest believer in the ADHD/hyperactivity diagnosis in today's kids – I think it's overblown at best. But there's some convincing and long-standing research about certain dyes used in foodstuffs triggering behavior issues, and the fact that the FDA obstinately refuses to open its mind to these possibilities… well, it's just standard operating procedure for the slow-footed government bureaucracy.

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), studies conduced over the last 30 years have indicated that children's behavior can be altered by some artificial dyes. In fact, the British government is currently pressuring UK food manufacturers to switch to safer food colorings.

The FDA, on the other hand, continually ignores these and other findings. Instead, our "vigilant" FDA emphatically says that additives DO NOT cause childhood hyperactivity.

But if the FDA is wrong – and well, let's face it, they've been wrong before – imagine the consequences. There are no foods with more food coloring additives than children's foods. The dyes are used in vast numbers of products that are marketed to children: cereals, candies, sodas, and snack foods. According to Michael F. Jacobson of CSPI, "The purpose of these chemicals is often to mask the absence of real food, to increase the appeal of a low-nutrition product to children, or both – who can tell the parents of kids with behavioral problems that this is truly worth the risk?"

As a parent, I encourage you to be on the safe side and establish your own ban Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3, and Yellow 6. I don't think something called "Green 3" occurs naturally…