Food Dyes Linked to Allergies, ADHD and Cancer: Group Calls on US to Outlaw Their Use

Many breakfast cereals are made with food dyes. (iStockphoto).

(CBS) Food dyes may make food look tastier, but a prominent watchdog group says they pose major health risks and is calling for the government to ban them.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says the dyes - used in a commercially prepared foods ranging from candy to breakfast cereals and salad dressing - present a "rainbow of risks" and can cause allergic reactions, hyperactivity, and even cancer.

"These synthetic chemicals do absolutely nothing to improve the nutritional quality or safety of foods, but trigger behavior problems in children and, possibly, cancer in anybody," Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the nonprofit group, said in a written statement. "The Food and Drug Administration should ban dyes, which would force industry to color foods with real food ingredients, not toxic petrochemicals."

Jacobson is co-author of a new report entitled "Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks."

The group says the three most widely used dyes - Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 - are contaminated with cancer-causing substances. Another dye, Red 3, has been identified as a carcinogen by the FDA but is still in commercial use.

Other dyes have been linked to allergic reactions, the group says, and studies show that dyes can cause hyperacitivity in children.

Despite those concerns, manufacturers put about 15 million pounds of eight synthetic dyes into our foods each year, according to the group. Per capita consumption of dyes has risen five-fold since 1955, thanks in part to the proliferation of brightly colored cereals, fruit drinks, and candies pitched to children.

The continued use of food dyes presents "unnecessary risks to humans, especially young children," James Huff, associate director for chemical carcinogenesis at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences' National Toxicology Program, said in a statement. "It's disappointing that the FDA has not addressed the toxic threat posed by food dyes."

Other governments have already taken action against food dyes, according to the group. The British government asked companies to phase out most dyes by last December 31, and the European Union will require a warning notice on most dyed foods starting on July 20.

The group predicted that the label notice might be the "death knell" for dyes across Europe.

If the CSPI has its way, the dyes will die here too.

Read the full report.

[straya2000]

I'm not at all surprised at the allergy part. When I was a kid back in the late 60's I would always break out in a rash after eating Peeps. My family doctor finally figured out that it was from the food coloring they used. I'm surprised it took them 40 years to finally figure this out!

[RoAgar]

This article is absolutely baseless and misleading. It is a shame that CSPI is targeting dyes for which the FDA has spent substantial amount of money in their testing and review. Readers can visit FDA website at www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/ColorAdditives for more details. In this time of economic hardship and instances where some food products are causing deaths, we don't want FDA to divert their focus and money on retesting ingredients that are already proven as safe.

[reallyd]

This is obviously an FDA driven response

[momof2monkeys]

Our son has a documented allergy to artificial food dyes. In time, we hope that the medical community will develop an allergy skin test (currently 2013) there is none. Within an hour of ingesting food dye (Red 40, Yellow 5, 6) he breaks out in a rash around his mouth. Try living with that as a kid in our culture, saturated with artificial food dyes. There is no need for food dyes in our food- no good reason.

[porcine_aviator]

Most of these dyes are well known to be photo-sensitizers and DNA intercalants. In both cases, that raises your risk for a host of different cancers.

So, while these dyes don't typically cause any acute sumptoms in low doses, over a lifetime, they definitely enhance the risk for cancer. The question is, why do we tolerate it? I am amazed at how many needless risks Americans will tolerate, all in the name of apathy or ignorance.

We need to go back to the foods of our ancestors, which were tasty, delicious, and wholesome and didn't need artificial this or that to be palatable. We as consumers need to vote with our wallets to buy less processed foods and REAL farm raised produce and meats. Even farmers' market foods that are not fully organic are still FAR BETTER than the crap you can buy in almost any grocery store.

[smilinggreenmom]

Yuck. We avoid these in our home as much as possible too! Our son has had terrible food allergies, sensitivities and eczema since he was a baby. We really tried just about everything to help him and what has helped so much for him has been his Belly Boost children's chewable probiotic as well as eating mostly whole foods and organic things that do not contain artificial ingredients. Now our whole family eats this way and it is great.

[prwhiz]

It's true that synthetic food dyes are found in thousands of products, especially candy. One of the few candy companies in the United States that avoids using synthetic dyes or artificial flavors in any of its products is Surf Sweets, the country's leading brand of organically sweetened, totally delicious gummy candies and jelly beans. Avoiding synthetic dyes and using only all natural ingredients like black carrot juice concentrate and turmeric (from the ginger family) to color its candy was a primary goal of the brand when it was originally founded. All Surf Sweets products are Stage 2 Feingold-approved, meaning they are approved by The Feingold Association, a non-profit that publishes approved food lists to help people avoid certain synthetic food additives. Consumers can visit http://www.feingold.org/pg-resources.html to see a list of other foods that are free of synthetic food additives.

[FGmom]

I have one child with Asperger's Syndrome, as well as severe ADHD, and another child with PDD-NOS and delayed white matter brain development.

I can personally say that after removing those chemicals (as well as chemical preservatives) from our home and diet, that both of my children have improved dramatically in all areas. (thank you to the Feingold Association for help in removing those things)

Having always thought that everything that is IN food must be on the label, I was surprised to learn how very much is hidden from us. For instance, if a yogurt has strawberries in it that were dyed when the yogurt company bought them, then they don't have to list the dye on the label of the finished product.

Regardless of whether or not one believes that chemical dyes and preservatives are good for us, I think we can all agree that we have the right to at least know what is in the food we eat. Hopefully, someday American laws will catch up and reflect that.

[OrganicTrade]

It is important for consumers to know that they can avoid the synthetic dyes mentioned in this article by choosing organic products. Organic standards prohibit the use of these dyes in products bearing the USDA organic label.