Color Bind: Will the FDA Finally Rub Out Toxic Food Dyes?

By
March 29, 2011
1 comments

It seems easy to spot food aisle products that are are loaded with artificial colorings: Fluorescent Cheetos and Skittles that are colors from beyond the rainbow are obvious dye jobs. But what about pickles? Oranges? Salad dressings?

These seemingly natural products are not exempt from artificial food dyes. To anyone concerned about the relation between synthetic food coloring and hyperactivity in children, low-flying food dying is an unsettling problem.

Healthier alternatives do exist: In response to consumers voting with their dollars, some companies have replaced artificial colorings with natural dyes made from plant extracts. But without government incentive to reformulate products, artificial dyes remain the cheaper and easier route taken by many U.S. food companies.

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The colors of the rainbow never looked so toxic. (Photo: rmkoske/Creative Commons)

FDA to the Rescue? Maybe.

The FDA’s mandate is to protect consumers from unsafe products. But is wasn't until the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) presented a pointed and detailed case linking artificial food dyes to allergies, AD/HD and cancer that the FDA got around to scheduling a two-day meeting to discuss whether or not the government should restrict the use of artificial food coloring.

Photo: rmkoske/Creative Commons via Flickr

Comments

1
Make the government to do more regulations is not the way to go. The way is to educate people that they will see the difference between reddish red and red 40 red. Only ignorance and blind belief that the government is taking care of MY food safety led us to this unprecedental chemical intervention into human's food and hence life. I am professional chemist and I see the food and food additives differently. We should stop this "dye diet" for ourselves. The good news is that there are planty health choices even at Wal-Mart stores, go to the DyeDiet.com to see what I see.
DyeDiet
posted on Apr 6, 2011