This week an FDA advisory panel will determine if those ubiquitious food dyes are to blame for hyperactivity and other disorders. AP reports the agency could decide to “further regulate dyes, do more studies on the issue or require better labeling of the additives. They could also recommend that the FDA do nothing at all.”
Food colouring is found in popular products such as macaroni and cheese, Jell-O, candy, sugared cereals, Twinkies, soda, lemonade and more.
The advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest circulated a petition to ban Yellow 5, Red 40 and six other petroleum-based dyes, AP reports. “It is medically and ethically unwise to burden hyperactive children and their parents with concerns about foods with synthetic dyes,” the petition wrote, according to CBS News.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association disagreed, writing in a statement, “All of the major safety bodies globally have reviewed the available science and have determined that there is no demonstrable link between artificial food colors and hyperactivity among children.”
In fact, the FDA concluded several years ago that there was no definitive link between the colorings and behavior or health problems, the New York Times reports.
