I don't know what's more headscratching about this UK study linking commonplace processed food colorings and additives to ADHD in kids:
the possibility that some of the most common food additives in the world [may be contributing to hyperactivity and behavior disorders in kids, and I only hear about it six months later,
or the kind of wacky methodology of the study, which basically gave kids mega-, normal, and placebo doses of additive cocktails,
or the fact that there's now an EU-wide ban on food additives being discussed
or that half of the additives in the study are already banned in the US,
or that an actual government regulatory body, the UK's Food Safety Agency, actually gave enough of a damn about the uncertainties of additive safety, that they actually commissioned the study in the first place. Sounds crazy, huh? And the food industry didn't implode in an unprofitable, uncompetitive heap as a result?
As for those additives, they are freaking everywhere:
# Sunset yellow (E110) [Yellow 6]
# Quinilone yellow (E104) [Yellow 10, already banned in the US]
# Tartrazine (E102) [Yellow 5]
# Carmoisine (E122) [Red 3, already banned in the US]
# Ponceau 4R (E124) [Red 7, already banned in the US]
# Allura red (E129) [Red 40]
# Sodium Benzoate, a preservative.
Agency revises advice on certain artificial colours [food.gov.uk]
Europe-wide food colour ban call bbc news via dt reader dt]
What amazes me most is that this is somehow news. My brother was on the Feingold diet (no artificial colors/flavors/sweeteners) back in the 70's due to ADHD. As a result we all ate like that. I avoid feeding the kid that stuff too.
There's gotta be a way to connect this with your wacky baby name thread of a while back...
Quinilone
Tartrazine
Carmoisine
Ponceau
Allura red
(Sodium Benzoate not so much)
At around the time this came out, another study noted that while sodium benzoate is Perfectly Harmless by itself, when combined with vitamin C, it breaks down into a carcinogen.
Needless to say, I gave up all vitamin-C-containing fruits and vegetables, and am now much happier and safer.
My teeth are getting a little rattly in my mouth and there's some random bleeding, but I figure it's a small price to pay.
Greg, i'm with K...i was diagnosed back in '74 as 'hyperactive' due to food additives, preservatives and artificial coloring. This is not new. It was devistating to have eat like that as a child back in the '70s- especially in Vegas, where there was like one health food store - but i'm better off for it today. So's The Girl, 3.5, who eats an all-natural diet.