Red Dye #40 - Lutherville Timonium,MD

S.,
YOU ARE RIGHT ON!!! Congrats to you for recognizing the culprit! My son, and youngest daughter have the very same reaction to this ingredient, and I have been beside myself as to why they must continue to use this when it has ABSOLUTELY NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE. I have written to General Mills & Kelloggs about cereals/cereal bars that would make great snacks for my kids--but they contain red dye or ANNATTO (watch for that ingredient too). POPs cereal & milk bar -- a YELLOW product -- contains red dye! Candy corn often has RD. Wheat Thins have RD and the lists go on and on. MOTHERS UNITE!! Lets campaign to make the manufacturers use alternative ingredients if they MUST color our food for us to eat it! It speaks poorly of our society if we can't eat a food that isn't pretty!
Aggressive, defiant, hyper behavior are common reactions to this dye. I have even heard of children who lost bladder control as a reaction to this.
Years ago they stopped making red M&Ms for this reason. It's hard to read every label and find all the 'red dye' ingredients... grocery shopping can take hours until you learn the foods to avoid. I suppose my kids are healthier for not eating some of the junk that contains this ingredient.
S.-thanks again for bringing this to the forefront for other Moms. It is a real issue and all kids should avoid this!
Get online and write to the customer service depts of all the food companies, and lets demand that they leave the COLOR out! It won't change the taste or the nutritional value.
thanks again,
S. J

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This is published medical fact that food additives contribute to hyperactivity in children. This was published in The Lancet's November, 3, 2007 issue. For the abstract read here: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S014067360761...

While it doesn't specifically mention Red 40, my autistic stepson has had a history of problems with it, but my girls, who are healthy have not. I try to stay away from artificial everything, but it's really hard unless you're growing your own food and cooking everything from scratch. So, I avoid the really bad stuff like artificial dyes and high fructose corn syrup (Don't get me started on the not so sweet surprise people are really in for when they do their research) Why does our government let these things be sold as food? One word... Money. The Feingold diet recommended by some of the other moms is great if you're having consistent behavior problems.

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Those dyes are pertroleum based...all of them, not just the red dye. There has been extensive research that shows that the artificial flavors and colors that are added into foods can cause a myriad of symptoms. IT has also been suggested that these additives are what has increased the number of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Thirty years ago, there were few "hyper" kids in a classroom. And, there were fewer artificial ingredients in foods.

You can learn more about this issue and the junk they put in our food by visiting www.feingold.org. You can also order a diet program which is free of all these additives. Hope this helps. Good luck. Traci

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Hello!

Years and years ago, we discovered that the red dye in hot dogs and ketchup were causing my little sister to get migraines. (Hot dogs and ketchup were a staple of her diet at the age of seven or so!) Once any foods with dye were taken out of her diet, the migraines stopped.

Good Luck,
D

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If it helps, you may want to consider buying organic foods or natural foods at Trader Joes. Organic foods are not able to have artificial dyes. I realize it can be daunting to take out red m&ms, fruit loops, etc. Believe it or not, Europe has banned red #40. She's not abnormal, it bothers lots of children. I really wish they would just eliminate that.

My sister swore the red dye had the same effect on her daughter. She cut it out and said her daughter was like a new child. Glad to know she's not alone.

Liz

I had the same problem diagnosed for my son when he was three(now 17).If you look at the list of foods that you have had to restrict from your daughter, you will notice that you have also removed a LOT of sugar, as well as other chemicals used for food preservation and flavor enhancers. I found that sticking with a whole food diet worked great for my son. Red dye is not the only thing that can poison a child's delicate system!
Best wishes, S.

hi S.,

the feingold diet has been wonderful for our family, especially my nine year old son. the diet removes all artificial colors, dyes, artificial flavors, some preservatives, and salicylates (occur naturally in some foods). when my son is not eating foods with the above items, his behavior and ability to focue is greatly improved. when there is a slip, we see a huge change - not for the better. you can go on their web site www.feingold.org for more info. good luck

B.

My son is the same way. He started this when he was 2.5. I never in a million years thought that the reason for my son behaving as you described above would be due to a dye in his food. But after speaking with a good friend and eliminating it from his diet he is a different kid. He is now 4.5. He is still all boy but we do not suffer from the frequent dealings with this. There is only 1 thing he gets with Red #40 and that is his vitamin. But it is a small amount and it doesn't seem to bother him. But give him koolaide, look out cause here comes evil Ryne. I don't understand either why they do take the dye's completely off the shelf either. I am sure there are other alternatives. But we have changed a few things we eat and find other things such as all natural or organic. But just know you are not alone. I thought I was too until now. Good luck!

Hi S.,
My 5 yo son also gets very hyper but it is not just the red dye,it seems to be all allergy/cold medicines. Do you have any suggestions? His teachers are ready to hang him by his toes. I am desperate.
Thanks!

I guess we are lucky to have a Trader Joe's, Amish Market and Whole Foods near us that have snack foods that don't have dye. They also have whole grain versions of popular snack foods as well as without High Fructose Corn Sweetener and Trans Fats. But I'm a little surprised at the list of foods in the original post. Even if we couldn't find the healthy alternative - we wouldn't buy the original version. We just don't have that stuff in our diet anymore. We'ne really cleaned up our act since having our son. Maybe it's my husband's nutrition research from having been a personal trainer. But there's so much garbage food out there I would never put in MY body - let alone my kid's. It's concentrated, man-made, processed food - going into a tiny little developing body. The dye is the least of the problem. This food is high in calorie and bad fat - and totally devoid of nutrition. It's the stuff that this current childhood obesity and diabetes are built on. Health Guru Jack Lalanne said "If man makes it - don't eat it" He is a bit extreme but he IS in his 90's without any health problems. Don't take my word for it - go to this link http://www.westonaprice.org and click on Children's Nutrition and then click on Modern Diseases, scrolling down to Processed foods that cause cancer. I think as Moms we trust our food producers too much. Like - our government wouldn't let us eat that stuff if it were bad for us. But just like when we take a sick kid to the Dr - we act as their advocate because they trust us. So, too, do they trust us on what is healthy nutrition. I know that NO MOM would choose something bad for their child once they know what that is. Before my husband found this info. I thought some of those foods were OK - but now that I know - I don't feel good about them anymore. With knowledge there is power. That is what is so great about these boards. I hope this info helps somebody. Please read about the research that was done by Mr Price around the world with indigenous populations that led him to this nutrition program - it's eye opening. S.

Hi S. - My son had the same reaction when he was little - he's now 26 years old. I didn't know what was wrong, but he was bouncing off the walls with hyperactivity. And then I started experimenting with what he was eating and we narrowed it down to red dye.
Good luck to your continued efforts!

Red dye is a huge problem with behavioral issues in children and removing it from your child's diet is great. I would suggest going for more organic foods because they do not contain artificial dyes of any kind. My girls love organic lolipops!

My son did a science experiment in 5th grade with mice. He fed some food dye and some not. It turned out the mice with food dye were a lot more aggressive with each other than the ones without. We are told they are safe and non-toxic, but clearly that is not true!

Hello S.,

This is for you and anyone else who reads this. Not only should you all be worried about the Red Dye #40, also be worried about the cleaning products that you are using in your home. Those products have alot of toxins that are harmful. Please visit my website www.livetotalwellness.com/P.. This website gives some help insight into what cause most of the health issues today. Also visit www.melaleuca.com. Take the guided tour and see what these awesome products have to offer. I look forward to sharing this awesom information with all of you.

I changed all of my household products to Melaleuca 7 months ago and my family hasn't suffered with allergies since.

Wow! How did you find this out? My little one is just over 2 and is usually a very laid back child but every now and then she gets all goofy on me like she's going through the "terrible two's" and it just happens out of the blue. So I just looked at the ingredients in the snacks that I give her and ALL of them have Red Dye #40 listed. UGH! I am going to try only giving her foods without this ingredient and see how she does. Any suggestions on snacks that you have found without this stuff in it? Thanks for the enlightening info!

when I was a kid my brother would break out every time we drank red KoolAid. No information was available at that time (early 80's) like it is now, but my mom cut out the red dye and he was fine. I have to go with the philosophy on food of: if it looks like it did when it was picked it's ok to eat. In other words if it looks like corn then it's acceptable. That cuts a lot out of our diet but saves us a ton on Dr. bills......

As a teacher for 12 years, I saw this all the time. Food manufacturers will not stop using it in their products until there is a loud enough uproar, a protest in the form of not buying their products, and/or a lawsuit filed to force the red dye out of their products. They are well aware of the reactions the dye has on children.
Educating others who will be in contact with your child (daycare, sitters, teachers, relatives, etc) about her STRICT "must-not-eat" list is very important. Don't assume that others will know which foods are on this list -- you will need to type it up & hand it out to them, updating as necessary. I found that it makes more of an impact if you refer to it as an "allergy" -- people are more aware of an allergic reaction and therefore more likely to listen to that than they are if it is just a "reaction" or a list of "probably shouldn't have" foods.
Another thing to be aware of is that she may never grow out of this -- definitely don't assume that because she is of a certain age that it will be better. The reaction will most likely be there, but it may be in a different form (ie: teenagers having a mood swing, then realizing it was caused by a preventable food dye reaction).
Good luck!

Hi S.,
My daughter is 13 years old and she was allergic to red food dye when she was younger. Her reaction was hives. The poor baby first got them at about 15 months old and it took about 6 months, and multiple doctor visits, to figure it out. We thought it was because I had just stopped nursing her 3 months before. She did eventually "grow out" of the allergy at about 5 years old. Her kindergarten class had popcicles and sure enough, Kylie ate one. But she didn't have the reaction. We slowly added a few things back into her diet (fruit snacks, etc.) and she never had another hive.
I hope little Grace grows out of her allergy too. All though I know it really is better to not have the food dye.
Good Luck,
B.

S.,
When I read your post, I can commesurate because I did not know the affects of Red #40 or any other dyes until my son had a similar reaction to Cherry Pop Tarts! He can not tolerate red, blue or yellow dyes. So, now I am a label checker. I am glad you put this post out there because people need to know about the affects it has on their kids. There is a popular book out regarding dyes and their affects by Ben Feingold that is really informative.

My 3 year old has the same reaction to red, yellow and blue dye. Which is in almost everything commercial for snacks and even cereals. We buy almost all organics, but I had no idea that even plain cereals contained yellow dye and such. We now shop only at trader joes and know that the items are almost always dye free. My daughter is still a whirlwind but at least now it is s dye free one and less insane :)When she would eat things with the dye she would experience frustration and her attention level was out of control. It is easier to manage now.

I wish more parents did some type of research as to what their children were eating I tell my 13&7yr old. all the time about eating or drinking products w/ red dye in them. I know they think I'm just trying to keep them from having tasty treats but this dye really affects them. Especially when you have a child that has ADHA and this dye really affects her. I never thought about it being present in doritos & cheetos. So I'm glad you bought that to my atention. These companies are not going put beet juices or anything else that isn't harmful to children because it's cheaper to put the Red Dye #40. Keep me posted if you find out any more info,I will do likewise. I'm going to take the time out to do more research. Thank you

I have a friend at work who reacts this same way to red dye. She is like a cat on catnip if she has any (wired, talks a million miles a minute, hyper). The only way they figured out that she was allergic to it is because her dad is too. Information is power!!

N.