There is growing attention being paid to what’s in the food we eat. Artificial food dye may not be one of your biggest concerns — or any concern at all. But maybe it should be.
California recently became the first state to ban synthetic food coloring and several other food additives. And now the pressure is increasing on the FDA to act on a national level — years after studies show some of these chemicals cause cancer in animals, and are associated with a host of other health risks.
Before she became a parent, Erin Seraydian says she didn’t give much thought to food coloring.
“So funny, like 15-plus years ago, my sister-in-law, we were visiting them in Texas, and they made a comment like, ‘The kids can’t have anything with dye in it, because it makes them hyperactive,’” she said. “And my husband and I, at the time we weren’t married, we were like, ‘Oh, okay, you know, they must be crazy. Like that’s not a real thing.’”
Years later when they had their own son, Jack, it no longer seemed “crazy.”
“Every time he had anything with dye in it, he had the hardest time focusing,” Seraydian said. “He was more irritable, cranky, angry. And you would be surprised how many food products contain food dye. So to this day now when he eats anything with dye in it at school, and he comes home, I can tell right away. And sure enough, I look in his backpack, and I find something that has dye in it.”
Jack was five years old when she first made the discovery.
“I start having like stomach pains and head pains,” he said. “And if I don’t have food dye, I am perfectly fine. I feel a lot more energetic, a lot more. It’s easier for me to think and remember things.”
Scientific studies back up a connection. Over time, hundreds of artificial food dyes have been created — many made from crude oil. Most were eventually pulled from the market for being toxic. Only nine are still allowed in food in the U.S.
Synthetic colors are often cheaper and brighter than natural dye, and often don’t add unwanted flavor. Red dye No. 3 is in many bright-colored sodas, juices, candy, yogurt, cereal, baked goods and snacks.
Sarah Sorscher is with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. It’s one of several consumer groups that, two years ago, petitioned the FDA to ban red dye No. 3.
“The FDA food program is the agency that’s supposed to be serving as a watchdog on our food system … But, for the last several decades at least, they’ve been asleep at the wheel,” she said. “They are disorganized, and they are vulnerable to capture from the food industry. And, as a result, there’s a number of food additives, including red [dye No.] 3, that have very clear health risks, including risk of cancer, where FDA has allowed them to remain on the market — even knowing the clear risks.”
Today, numerous studies have linked artificial dyes and other food chemicals to cancer, immune problems and brain issues like hyperactivity.
But Sarah Gallo of the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group representing food and beverage companies, said companies are constantly watching consumer trends, and these additives have been studied for decades.
“It’s really important to know, too, that nothing is just going into the marketplace without there being a rigorous science system in advance of those products being added to what we purchase every day for our families,” Gallo said. “And, to date, there have not been any studies that show causation between any specific additive and a certain outcome.”
Gallo declined to comment on medical issues stemming from artificial food dyes.
Consumer advocates have said that California’s ban on red dye No. 3 and other additives makes it more likely that the FDA will restrict it nationally.
“Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson” airs at 10 a.m. Sunday, WJLA (Channel 7) and WBFF (Channel 45).
