Artificial Food Dye 101

Colors influence our decisions more than you think

Yellow & Orange: Associated with stimulating hunger

Red: Invokes passion and emotion, raising the heart rate Red + Yellow/Orange = $$$

It's why so many manufacturers use these combination of hues - especially on kids. These bright colors are purposefully picked to entice the consumer to pick it up. This phenomenon is not confined to food either. It's a reason why we see social media companies (and other 'trusting' apps) in blue — it promotes trust & security

"As you swipe through your apps, you're bound to that quite a few of them use blue logos and will most likely have something to do with communication." - Caleb Yen

Artificial dyes are used to mimic these colors in the product itself, increasing appeal.

Artificial dyes don't directly cause ADHD - but they do cause pediatric hyperactivity, behavioral and learning issues for many kids. However, in many cases, children sensitive to tood dyes may have enough symptoms that they're pushed over the diagnostic criteria for ADHD. But, with a change in diet those symptoms can subside to a more manageable level. In other words, the dyes are exacerbating the symptoms of ADHD.

A small study found that 73% of children with ADHD showed a decrease in symptoms when artificial food dyes and preservatives were eliminated.

Sources: https://www.cspinet.org/sites/default/files/attachment/food-dyes-rainbow-of-risks.pdf

https://hes-extraordinary.com/red-dye-40

https://forumhealth.com/clinics/california/modesto/

A study found that a child on average consumed somewhere between 100 mg to 200 mg a day of synthetic dyes. Behavioral tests have shown that as little as 30mg have negative impacts on health.

KIND Snacks unveiled a display in Herald Square in NYC to show just how much synthetic dye American kids consume each day. The display consisted of several test tubes, which may not sound like a lot - but they are large enough to hold 2,000 gallons-worth of the synthetic dyes that the FDA currently allows to be put in food and beverages.

Source: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0009922814530803?rfr_dat=cr_pub%3Dpubmed&url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=0ri%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&journalCode=cpjc

Food dyes have no nutritional value. They are just for appearance in our appearance-obsessed society.

Why, then, roll the dye and take on unknown risk for something that doesn't make your or your kids' lives any better?

Especially when dye-free options are widely available at the same price. Dyes may help food items get more attention, but these dyes themselves should be getting more attention. People should ask the question: why are artificial colors in so much of our food supply? Shouldn't you be "dying to know" the possible health effects of consuming all these dyes? Especially when research is showing all the negative health impacts that the US FDA is simply electing to ignore.

There's obvious places you'll find food dye (candy, treats, etc) and then there's places most people don't even think of (pickles, jalapeños). Do any of these surprise you?

Reminder to always check your labels! Why?? Example: some flavors of Cheetos have dyes, some don't. Some version of mt olives and pickles have them, some don't. Some versions of wasabi, glucose drinks, yoplait kids yogurt have them - and some don't. Did you know that even popular kids snacks like fruit by the foot are dye free at Costco but if you go to Sam's, it has dye? AND a company may be going dye free but you may also still find items with dye in them (think items with long shelf life's or surplus items you may find at stores like big lots).

Don't assume it's dye free, always double check.