Health impacts of synthetic food dyes on children

Food certified as Organic is not allowed to contain synthetic food dyes  and other additive ingredients found in processed foods today.  A recent report found that the consumption of synthetic food dyes can cause hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral problems in children.

  The report indicates that the concentrations of synthetic food dye currently considered safe by FDA may be too high to protect children from the adverse effects of synthetic dyes in today’s standard diets. The research team found that children are typically exposed to synthetic dyes up to three times a day with some of the greatest exposures coming from juice and soft drinks, and with some children consuming already even more dye than the daily allowance limits set by FDA.

Human studies in the report found adverse neurobehavioral effects like hyperactivity in children who consumed synthetic food dyes. “Challenge studies” measured children’s behavior after being placed on a dye-free diet for several weeks, and then again once synthetic food dye was reintroduced into the diet. The results of these studies showed that there is variation in children’s sensitivity to synthetic food dyes and therefore the level of adverse effects on their behavior.

Animal studies presented in the report showed that consumption of synthetic food dyes affects how the brain transmits signals from one cell to the next, memory capacity, brain activity and even causes microscopic physiological changes in the brain structure.

This report highlights the importance of continually updating science that is used to make recommendations on the safety of synthetic chemicals in our food and food production. Organic food offers a safe choice by not allowing synthetic dyes, and drastically reducing  chemicals used in processed food and farming.

content source:

organic-center.org