We see them in most foods and a lot of candies especially any foods that are geared toward children. So what are the affects of food dyes you may be wondering? Are there even any effects?
I have always heard that eating food dye is bad for kids and can cause learning disorders. I have read bits and pieces here and there about how it can affect kids, but nothing really stuck. I just knew is wasn’t in their best interest to eat food dye so I always avoided buying foods and drinks with artificial colors. That being said, I decided that I need to know some facts and read up on the studies that have been done! This is what I found.
What I Have Found Out!
Until recently the amounts of artificial food dyes have been kept secret! They never say how much dye you’re getting, but that is changing. Now you can find the milligrams per serving of artificial food dyes in most foods!
According to the Center Of Science In The Public Interest, studies have shown that as little as 30mg of artificial food dye can cause reactions in your child. It also states that a child can easily eat over 100 mg a day by consuming Kraft macaroni and cheese, orange soda, and Skittles!
General Mills Trix cereal has many artifical food dyes and contains a whopping 36mg! Imagine if your child had a couple servings of that! Orange Powerade is said to have 22.1mg in an 8oz serving and I think most bottles of that are doubled at least! Even Sunny D was high on the list! Other foods that can contain these neurotoxins are sports drinks, pickles, smoked salmon, candies, chips, and popcicles to name a few.
To Get To The Point!
To sum up what I have read, artificial food dyes are neurotoxic, damaging to nerve tissues, carcinogenic, cancer causing, genotoxic (damaging to DNA causing mutations or cancer), damaging to chromosomes, behavioral problems, asthma, and allergies!
Here are some natural food dyes from Amazon!
I hope this information has made you think twice about the foods you are choosing to buy for your kids. Then maybe it wont be so hard on me when my kids ask, “why can’t we have Gatorade?” Or a lot of other “bad” foods (what I call them) when we are at tracks or other gatherings with kids still gorging on artificial food! lol! Hoping more people come around when they learn the facts on artificial food dyes!
Thankfully, more and more people are coming around these days and learning more about what they consume and the health affects it has on us and especially our young developing kids. It has also gotten easy to purchase natural food dyes at natural food stores and online. It is really fun to make your own as well!
Thanks for reading and please leave a comment!
This post contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you. To read my privacy policy please click here.
