martinzoo

My sister is a Physical Education teacher at the local middle school. Recently, she went to Aquagirl’s college for some additional career training seminars. And while we were at brunch on Sunday she gave me a new fear. She was telling us that lots of teachers use candy and dry cereal as incentive for kids to do little things quickly. And at the seminar they were explaining how bad that is for the kids.

The focus was on the dye that is used to color the candy and the cereal. In particular, was Red 40 and Yellow 5. She said, and I’ve found supporting data, that the dye is only used to make the food more visually appealing.

I think I’ve kind of heard of this before, but not in an extensive way. My sister was telling me that these dyes are made from, hold on to your shorts, petroleum distillates and coal tar! That’s just sick! She said that animals instinctively know what is bad for their bodies and if you were to put out a dish of fruit loops and another of raisin bran (no artificial colors) the birds would eat the bran, but not the fruit loops.

Well, I had to try that. GB and I put out dishes on Monday to see what the birds would try.

They didn’t touch either one. So, I guess that proves nothing. Or, it just proves that the sunflowers are too distracting…LOL!

****Update: Since this post was written, I noticed that the squirrels and birds have totally eaten the bran cereal, but continue to ignore the Fruit Loops.
But I wanted to do more research on the subject. And I was really not happy with what I found. There are studies that suggest artificial color have an effect on our children’s behavior and of course, they can have an effect on our health and how our bodies function. Some people are allergic to certain artificial colors. And other studies link tumors to certain colors. Remember when they finally took Red Dye #2 off the market and how many thousands of products contained that dye? I really missed that red M&M.

This is the FDA’s response to whether certain food dyes cause hyperactivity or learning disabilities:

Although this theory was popularized in the 1970’s, well-controlled studies conducted since then have produced no evidence that food color additives cause hyperactivity or learning disabilities in children. A Consensus Development Panel of the National Institutes of Health concluded in 1982 that there was no scientific evidence to support the claim that colorings or other food additives cause hyperactivity.

This was on the current FDA web site. But that study was done in 1982! What about now? We know a lot more now. So how about a current statement?

In the UK the British Food Standards Agency is asking food companies to voluntarily get rid of color additives in food products aimed at young children.

Here is what the New York Times had to say on the subject of the British study:

“Common food additives and colorings can increase hyperactive behavior in a broad range of children, a study being released today found.

It was the first time researchers conclusively and scientifically confirmed a link that had long been suspected by many parents. Numerous support groups for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have for years recommended removing such ingredients from diets, although experts have continued to debate the evidence.”

You can read the rest of the article on the NYT’s web site.

And there is a good explanation of the study here.

Going through my refrigerator and my cabinets, this is what I found that contained Red 40:

• Mott’s strawberry applesauce
• Hawaiian Punch
• Pillsbury Grand’s Biscuits (what! why is red 40 in biscuits?)
• Fizzix Lowfat Yogurt snack
• Froot Loops (I bought for the experiment)
• Lucky Charms
• Cinnamon Life cereal (why?!)
• Cherry Poptarts
• Doritos (no surprise here)

These items contained the Yellow 5:

• Mountain Dew
• Pillsbury Grand’s biscuits (again!)
• Jello pudding snacks (vanilla and tapioca)
• Dr. Oetker Tiramisu
• Doritos
• Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
• Pringles
• Country Time Lemonade

Sadly, my family is going to find fewer of these items making their way in to my shopping cart. Because I don’t want to take any chances.

I swear! The more you learn - the more you fear. The internet can be like a double edged sword. I want to know, but when I find out things, it makes me feel as if we are slowly being poisoned by everything we ingest.

So this year I’m going to try and make my focus on our meals be more healthy. I want to learn more about organics and incorporate them more in to our diet - even if our food bill goes up. I’m not buying the bottled water anymore. I’d rather use a filtering product. And now thanks to my sister {sarcasm} I’m going to try to eliminate these unnatural dyes from our diet, because I don’t want us to eat petroleum OR tar!

So, thanks Aunty B! Really! {genuine}