Artificial Food Dyes

We posted alternatives to food dyes for use on your Easter eggs a couple weeks ago so we just wanted to touch back on this topic in a little more depth.  100 Days of Real Food has a few posts regarding the same issue which is where the information in this post was received.  We wanted to share a picture from one of those posts to make it easier for you to know what you should be avoiding on the ingredient labels.

 Why should you avoid these artificial dyes:

1. They are made in a lab with chemicals derived from petroleum, a crude oil product, which also happens to be used in gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt, and tar. 
2. They’ve been linked to long-term health problems such as cancer. If you’re a child of the ‘80s (like us) do you remember that rumor about red M&Ms causing cancer? Maybe it wasn’t just a rumor after all. 
3. Did you know that food products containing artificial dye are required to have a warning label in the U.K.? The label states that the food “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.” So speaking of M&Ms, they aren’t so brightly colored in some countries outside of the U.S. because manufacturers would rather do away with the artificial dye than have to put a warning label on their products.
4. Synthetic food dyes have been shown to cause an increase in hyperactivity in children as well as a negative impact on their ability to learn. 
5. They add absolutely no value to the foods we are eating, but do in-fact pose quite a few serious risks. 
6. They trick your senses…just like other artificial additives including sweeteners.
7. They are contributing to the obesity epidemic by attracting children (and adults) to highly processed food, which in many cases is being eaten instead of fresh whole foods.

From personal experience checking every label now when we shop we were shocked at some of the foods that contained dyes.  Pickles and Children's Motrin were two of them...what's the point!.  You can see a larger list in this post. Check them out, there's a lot of good, need to know facts in there.  And just to clarify to those who think food dyes and processed food in general is OK because we grew up on it and are just fine, see below.

"Consumption of food dyes has increased 5-fold since 1955 (up from 3 million to 15 million pounds per year) – 90% of which is from Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Red 40. This is one of the many reasons why the argument that we grew up eating this stuff and turned out “just fine” doesn’t hold up – processed food has changed (and continues to change) since we were kids." 

Hope this information was helpful and that you remember to check the labels!