Health – Are Artificial Food Coloring a Health Hazard to You?
April 19, 2010
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Posted by admin
A whole food is one in which nothing has been done to it before you eat it. A freshly picked tomato is an example of a whole food. That’s not the norm for most of us. We eat processed foods. Processing add shelf life, nutrients, color, etc to our foods. Over the past 50 to 100 years, the whole foods have lost a lot of nutrient value because of farming and fertilizing methods. We get more per acre, but not necessarily the same quality of nutrients that existed decades before. We see similar things in flowers – the really pretty fresh red roses have no smell, but they last days longer than the original varieties.
We hear health professionals tell us to eat mostly whole foods, or more whole foods than processed foods. The whole foods are supposed to make it easier for us to maintain or lose weight. I’m not sure about that – I haven’t researched enough to offer my opinion. I do know however, that there are many reasons for losing weight and most of them have to do with our biochemical processes in our bodies, not just the intake of food. As we age our internal processing degrades – becomes more inefficient – and we can’t ‘burn off’ the calories from whole foods or processed foods.
With that being said though, I believe that whole foods are better for you because they do not add extra chemicals (over 2600 food additives currently available to be added to your food) into you body. Do I need extra sugar, no matter what form it comes in, to be added to a food? I’ll discuss that topic in a future blog. Allow me the opportunity to discuss the topic of artificial colors added to our foods. Color helps us identify freshness in most foods. We make a decision to eat something based on many of our senses – visual appeal is a major factor in making that selection.
Color has been added to foods for over 2000 years. Natural coloring has been added to foods for centuries, such as, saffron, alum, indigo, safflower, marigold, paprika, and others to name a few. Even today, we still use some of them. Natural food colors come mainly from plants. Regulations against coloring foods didn’t come into vogue until the 1800s. In 1906, The United States Food and Drug Act restricted the volume of over 80 synthetic food colors to only seven – those that could be tested as safe. In 1938 the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act approved 15 dyes and assigned color numbers instead of their common names (i.e., amaranth is Red Dye #2). New laws have come out in the 60s, 70s and 90s to protect us from additives that could cause us harm – cancer prevention being the primary objective. Ironically, the term ‘natural food color’ has never been legally defined.
Today the primary artificial colors used are: Blue Dye #1 (bright blue dye used in beverages, dairy products, icings, syrups, etc.); Blue Dye #2 (royal blue food dye used in cereals, snacks, sherbets, etc.); Green Dye #3 (sea green dye used in puddings, ice cream, cherries, dairy products, etc.); Red Dye #40 (orange-red dye used in gelatins, puddings, beverages, condiments, etc.); Red Dye #3 (cherry-red dye used in fruit cocktail, baked goods, snack foods, etc.); Yellow Dye #5 (lemon-yellow dye used in custards, beverages, ice cream, preserves, etc.); and, Yellow Dye #6 (orange dye used in cereals, dessert powders, ice cream, etc.).
So, by now you might ask yourself, are artificial food colorings safe for me? The Food and Drug Administration says yes – they have certified them safe for use. But, like a lot of things in our environment, some people are allergic to things that the majority of us are not. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says that artificial food colorings are not safe and want them banned. The Feingold Diet, made popular in the 70s by Dr. Ben Feingold, eliminated a number of artificial ingredients from children’s’ diets, including artificial coloring. Subsequent studies have shown no links between food coloring and behavioral problems, such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Nonetheless, as technology marches forwarded newer testing suggests that they might cause behavioral problems. The results are still out.
If artificial food colorings are safe, do I really need them? You don’t really have a choice – that choice has been the realm of the food manufacturers. Obviously, you can choose to select those foods with or without artificial food colorings added. A lot of food manufacturers have voluntarily removed a large majority of artificial colors in favor of more natural colorings. Big companies may choose to use natural food colors in one country and artificial food colors in another country. The bottom line is that food looks better with color added in many cases.
Have you every looked at your child’s tongue (or your tongue) after eating something artificially colored? I remember a couple of years ago I had a sherbet from a famous ice cream outlet and noticed that my tongue was blue for a long time after eating. Did it hurt me? I don’t think so, but it made me aware very quickly that something had been added to the sherbet. I have avoided that selection since, even though I really enjoyed the taste – there’s something about staining my tongue that didn’t feel right to my brain.
So, should I keep artificial food colors from my family? The Food and Drug Administration says they are safe. I recommend reading labels – I read lots of food labels, as well as labels on many other products – something I’ve done for years. You have a choice – you can avoid anything with artificial colors and select products with natural colors added. But, beware of the ‘other ingredients’ that are not specified. If it really looks colorful, it probably didn’t come that way form nature, unless it was picked and sent straight to the store – and, even then you can’t be sure. I would be on the watch for any changes in behavior or health – allergic reactions, fatigue, rashes, headaches, asthma, hyperactivity, etc.
I used to run a lot of 5K races back in the 80s and 90s – several per week. There were local beer sponsors giving away free beer after the races – and I would have a beer or two as part of the post race festivities. For years I never had a problem. A friend of mine noticed headaches from drinking beer after the races and gave up drinking the free beer. It was several months later that I noticed if I had more than one beer I would get a slight headache. So, I stopped drinking the free beer. I don’t know if it was an artificial color or other artificial flavor or ingredient added, but whatever the change was to the formula, it left me with a health problem. I haven’t had that brand of non-bottled beer since then – over fifteen years. I had a choice and made it.
Choices have consequences. Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin
Categories: Health
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Tags: additives, ADHD, Allergies, artificial color, behavior, blue dye, cancer prevention, Center for Science in the Public Interest, choices, color, CSPI, Feingold Diet, food, Food and Drug Act, Food and Drug Administration, Food Drug and Cosmetics Act, food dyes, food labels, freshness, green dye, headaches, Health, hyperactivity, ingredients, natural color, natural food, nutrients, processed food, rashes, red dye, safety, Weight Loss, whole food, yellow dye
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