Red is the first color a baby sees. A week later, babies perceive yellow, blue and green. Yellow, the most visible color on the spectrum, conjures up happiness and warmth. Red, the best color for advertising, conveys love, excitement and power. Blue adds trust and is often used by banks and healthcare providers. People are attracted to vibrant colors, hence the attraction to sunsets, rainbows, wildflowers, blue sky and autumn leaves.

A good chef understands the adage, “you eat with your eyes first” when they prepare foods. The multi-billion dollar food industry also understands that “eye appeal creates buy appeal”, therefore they combine bright colors with imagery and deceptive phrases to entice consumers.

The food industry bombards children with reds and yellows, as those colors are the most eye-catching. Cereal boxes, juice containers and candy wrappers feature playful images of children’s beloved TV and movie characters. To add an emotional connection, children are further influenced with music and catchy jingles. The promise of a healthy breakfast of whole grains, fiber and vitamins captures the adults. Companies pay extra to have their products stocked at eye level where they are easy for children to see and reach.

Now comes the dilemma. 43% of food and drinks marketed to children are synthetically dyed. 96% of candies, 95% of fruit flavored drinks, 90% of drink mixes and 86% of breakfast foods contain synthetic food dyes with no nutritional value. Scientific studies suggest synthetic food dyes are toxic and associated with allergic reactions, asthma, hives, hypersensitivity, hyperactivity, attention disorders, irritability, depression, difficulty sleeping, mitochondrial impairment, tumor growth and cancer.

The FDA has approved 9 synthetic food dyes derived from petroleum. More than 15,000,000 pounds of these fossil fuel dyes are put into thousands of foods in the U.S. and are used to color meat, cereal, candy, chewing gum, cookies, snacks, sauces, pizza dough, ketchup, pudding, popsicles, ice cream, snow cones, baked goods, drinks, juices, capsules, tablets, blush, nail polish, cleaning solutions, detergents and numerous other products.

Volumes of scientific studies could be presented on artificial food dyes, but for the sake of brevity we will highlight four. Red Dye 40, Red Dye 3, Yellow Dye 5 and Yellow Dye 6 make up over 90% of the synthetic food dyes in the United States. According to the USDA, and measured by pounds, more than 36,000 food products sold in the U.S. contain Red Dye 40, which may cause DNA damage, inflammation, allergic reactions and may contribute to hyperactivity in children.

All four of these dyes contain benzidine or other carcinogens, as human and animal carcinogens are still permitted in low, presumably safe levels by the FDA. Hopefully, your child doesn’t drink too much or eat too many products laced with food dyes and breach the so-called safe levels.

Companies like Kraft, General Mills and PepsiCo are aware of the science surrounding dyes, so there is no excuse for them to continue using these toxic chemicals. Farcically, companies aren’t required to reveal how much food dye is in their products as it’s considered a trade secret. The FDA claims food dyes are currently under review and it is their policy not to comment on topics under review. The FDA’s continual inaction amounts to approval of a dangerous ongoing experiment with children.

Practically everyone that shops in a grocery store consumes food dye at some time, but they may not know it, or in what quantities. Current studies don’t take into account real-world combinations of dyes and the many other chemicals found in processed foods and drinks. These chemical cocktails are infinitely more dangerous than an individual food dye tested in isolation. The FDA may not even know that a chemical is in a food supply, thanks to the GRAS process, under which food companies are allowed to determine which of over a thousand food chemicals are safe.

Europeans enjoy the exact same foods and beverages as Americans, but with safer dyes and warning labels required since 2010. In America, the CSPI asked policymakers at the federal and state levels for bans and warning labels on synthetic dyes. In 2011, due to government recommendations and consumer pressure, Walmart, Coca Cola and Mars removed artificial colors from their UK products. The FDA continues to allow toxic food dyes in America’s food supply. For example, McDonald’s strawberry sundaes are colored only with strawberries in Britain, but Red Dye 40 is still used in the United States.

As far back as the 1980s, it was determined that Red Dye 3 causes cancer in animals and increases the risk of thyroid tumors in rats. Red Dye 3, the deadliest dye of them all, and found in thousands of foods, has been banned in Europe since 1994. In the United States, Red Dye 3 is illegal to use in lipstick, but perfectly legal to feed to children in the form of candy.

General Mills, Kellogg and Mars made bold pledges to remove artificial colors like Red Dye 3, but have not followed through. California finally passed a law banning Red Dye 3, but it won’t go into effect until 2027. Companies that manufacture drugs and dietary supplements, will get an additional year.

What we can do…

• Read labels and beware of deceptive advertising.
• Buy organic foods and support organic farmers.
• Drink pure water and not chemical-infused drinks.
• Urge the government to act quickly and responsibly.
• Audit food conglomerates, FDA officials and their political allies to determine who is being paid off.
• Companies will make changes when people stop buying their poison.
• You are on your own in restaurants.

For additional articles and videos on our toxic environment, holistic health, fasting and detoxification, visit www.marjanbooks.com.