
Chloe Cunningham made it through an entire wedding and almost the whole reception party as well behaved as a three-year-old could be. That is, until her parents let her have one Shirley Temple. It was common that Chloe would break into tantrums during family occasions and holidays, but her parents did not know what caused her to do so. After investigation, it was decided that she did not have an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, childhood depression or just a case of the terrible twos, but an intolerance to three artificial colors which make up ninety percent of all food dyes (Miller). Most Americans are unaware of the negative health effects artificial food dyes have on the United States’ population. Companies that manufacture products with artificial colors do so because of consumer ignorance and appeal, in addition to the mild regulations and restrictions on production the United States government imposes. As a result, the public is uneducated about the issues the food dye consumption industry presents to human health; often leading to misdiagnoses of attention deficit disorders and unrealized connections to other health effects. 

The growing preference for natural foods leads some companies to switch to safe natural colorings such as beta-carotene, chlorophyll, turmeric or beet juice. These options are commonly used in European countries in comparison to the United States because of restrictions on safe product manufacturing. Artificial dyes were originally made from coal tar, but are now made from petroleum and other chemicals (CSPI).  They have become popular due to lower cost and high stability and brightness compared to natural colorings. Because of these factors, the use of synthetic coloring in processed foods has increased five-fold since 1955, according to Food and Drug Administration. This data is a good indication of how the American population has become dependent on processed foods like soda, candy, etc. Many United States companies are starting to transition to more natural dye forms because they are realizing that an “All Natural” label could mean more customers. Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Red 40 make up ninety percent of all food dyes used in the United States. They are used in many of the products we consume daily, some without ever being noticed. The low cost of the synthetic colors contributes to the mass production of goods around the world. Their preserving properties help to create longer lasting shelf items, enabling producers to generate more product without having to worry about stocked older product going bad. Many companies also prefer that their goods be the brightest on the market in order to sell higher volumes. When comparing pigments from natural dyes derived from foods or plants to those synthetically produced with chemicals, natural product does not make the cut for being the best and the brightest.

The saying, “You eat with your eyes first” becomes very literal when it comes to consumerism. There is a logical human association between color and taste, making consumers prefer that the color of food matches its “designated flavor”. Therefore, we expect a red drink to taste like cherries or a purple one to taste like grapes. This concept puts down ideas for products like clear Pepsi, black water, green ketchup, or pink butter (Rohrig). And be honest, you wrinkled your face up thinking about those things because they just do not make sense with your association of colors and taste. The relationship between the two becomes particularly important in the marketing aspect of products containing dyes. In the cereal industry particularly, children become infatuated with bright colors and the array of flavors like those of Quaker’s Captain Crunch or General Mills’ Trix, and parents just want to please their kids. From a marketing standpoint, companies advertise many products with high amounts of artificial dyes to children and parents because they are cheaper to produce and last longer than natural ones. This allows children to get the food they want, and parents to buy products with good shelf life while getting to save a few dollars. Without realizing it, parents become administers of health hazards to children. Consumers also prefer to buy fake products because they are more cost effective than natural ones like fruits and vegetables, as can be seen when comparing grocery store products. It is not unknown that fruits and vegetables are the healthier option compared to processed goods, but often many cannot afford to buy fresh foods, causing them to settle for the cheaper and less healthy option. This cycle keeps many families stuck on a health-wise harmful path by continually purchasing unhealthy products keeping production companies wealthy.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for protecting the public’s health by regulating the food, drugs, and biological products produced in the United States. The organization’s obligations include testing synthetically produced dyes and regulating which ones and how much of them are suitable for use in good manufacturing. It is also responsible for reporting the effects the tested dyes have to the public. Multiple FDA reports have revealed that many approved dyes are linked to health defects that can range from small to detrimental; however, nothing is done to reduce or eliminate their use. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) conducts innovative research and advocacy programs in health and nutrition and provides consumers with current, useful information about their health and well-being. In a 2010 report, it was revealed that nine of the food dyes currently approved for use in the United States are linked to health issues ranging from cancer and hyperactivity to allergy-like reactions. Dyes are also often mixed during production, which can lead to additional health defects. Many European countries have decided to ban and warn consumers of the negative effects that artificial dyes have on human health. The United Kingdom has taken many dye containing products off the market completely, while the rest of Europe is required to put caution labels on all goods containing the fake product. This is done in attempt to warn of the health effects they can have, particularly on children’s attention and behavior. In doing so, people become more knowledgeable about what goes into their bodies, and therefore are able to make healthier life decisions. The European Union approach to this issue is a useful model for health advocacy and could be a beneficial one if it was implemented in the United States. If more advertisement of negative health effects were used in America, consumers would be less inclined to buy dye inclusive products, improving their overall health and reducing their risk of negative effects. 

Allergist Ben Feingold was one of the first to look at the links between foods and additives and their effect on some individuals’ behavior and ability to learn. His research led to the first substantial evidence that artificial food colorings do, in fact, increase health risks and create problems with intake intolerance and mental focus. Feingold published many academic works on the subject and performed numerous experiments to back up his claims. Some of his most famous works include articles such as Hyperkinesis and Learning Disabilities Linked to the Ingestion of Artificial Colors and Flavors and The Feingold Diet. Dr. Feingold’s claims that synthetic food additives triggered hyperactivity, then the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorder in the United States, created an uproar.  He claimed that, “the epidemic should not be treated with drugs such as Ritalin but, instead, with a food additive-free diet”. Parents and the media considered his treatment, the Feingold diet, a compelling alternative. His research helped many families across the country to live healthier lives and inspired more to be educated on the effects their food choices can lead to. This however, led to skeptical physicians who designed dozens of trials to challenge his ideas. Their resulting medical opinion was that the diet did not work and it was rejected in medical society (Smith). Matthew Smith asserts in his book, An Alternative History of Hyperactivity: Food Additives and the Feingold Diet, that the rejected physician experiment conclusions were, in fact, flawed in order to bias the public. It also explores the origins of the Feingold diet, revealing why it became so popular, and the ways in which physicians, parents, and the public made decisions about whether it was a valid treatment for hyperactivity. Arguing that the fate of Feingold's therapy, “depends more on cultural, economic, and political factors than on the scientific protocols designed to test it”. Smith suggests the lessons learned can help resolve medical controversies more effectively. Feingold’s research has also inspired organizations like the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) to publish many works supporting and furthering his research. Some such works include Seeing Red, an article published by CSPI’s President, Michael F. Jacobson. Jacobson writes to not only reiterate particularly the attention deficit effects food dyes have on children but also to call for more government regulation of their use. He supports company switches to safer, more natural ways for product coloring and pushes for the FDA to ban artificial dyes all together, or at minimum require warning labels on dyed foods, as they do in Europe. 

The spectrum of health issues linked to food dyes has been discovered to be very vast. Recently, because of amplified usage of synthetic dyes in food production, allergies to specific colors have become an increased area of concern for everyday consumption. Over consumption of certain colors as well as components of specific dyes themselves may create an intolerance in humans and animals. As a result, any contact with products containing those colors may trigger reactions like anaphylactic shock, rashes, hives, or swollen tongues and throats. Many experiments have been done on animals for further research on the effects specific dyes can cause. Dr. Joseph Mercola’s informative online health website gives examples of commonly used dyes and their influences on mice and rats. Mercola writes: 

Blue #1 (Brilliant Blue):

An unpublished study suggested the possibility that Blue 1 caused kidney tumors in mice. What it's in: Baked goods, beverages, desert powders, candies, cereal, drugs, and other products.

Blue #2 (Indigo Carmine):

Causes a statistically significant incidence of tumors, particularly brain gliomas, in male rats. What it's in: Colored beverages, candies, pet food, & other food and drugs.

Citrus Red #2:

It's toxic to rodents at modest levels and caused tumors of the urinary bladder and possibly other organs. What it's in: Skins of Florida oranges.

Green #3 (Fast Green):

Caused significant increases in bladder and testes tumors in male rats. What it's in: Drugs, personal care products, cosmetic products except in eye area, candies, beverages, ice cream, sorbet, ingested drugs, lipsticks, and externally applied cosmetics.

Red #3 (Erythrosine):

Recognized in 1990 by the FDA as a thyroid carcinogen in animals and is banned in cosmetics and externally applied drugs. What it's in: Sausage casings, oral medication, maraschino cherries, baked goods, and candies.

Red #40 (Allura Red):

This is the most-widely used and consumed dye. It may accelerate the appearance of immune system tumors in mice. It also causes hypersensitivity (allergy-like) reactions in some consumers and might trigger hyperactivity in children. What it's in: Beverages, bakery goods, dessert powders, candies, cereals, foods, drugs, and cosmetics.

Yellow #5 (Tartrazine):Yellow 5 causes sometimes-severe hypersensitivity reactions and might trigger hyperactivity and other behavioral effects in children. What it's in: Pet foods, numerous bakery goods, beverages, dessert powders, candies, cereals, gelatin desserts, and many other foods, as well as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

Yellow #6 (Sunset Yellow):

Caused adrenal tumors in animals and occasionally causes severe hypersensitivity reactions. What it's in: Color bakery goods, cereals, beverages, dessert powders, candies, gelatin deserts, sausage, cosmetics, and drugs.

Most commonly, dyes are paralleled with hyperkinesis, or ADHD-like symptoms, particularly in children. Many American children’s diets routinely consist of brightly colored drinks, candies and cereals. Because of this trend, parents typically assume that their child will be hyperactive because of the sugars in their foods. However, many do not know that the dyes in those products are much of what cause them to become so hyper. Regardless of sugar reduction in diets, countless children exhibit rowdy behavior for seemingly no reason. This leads to testing for conditions such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and commonly, misdiagnoses of the syndromes. The idea of misdiagnoses would interest parents of children diagnosed with these disorders. Reanalysis of children’s symptoms in connection to food dyes in diets instead of mental handicaps could lead to reduced and overturned misdiagnoses as well as unnecessarily prescribed medicines. Parents would be more inclined to accept that their children are simply negatively affected by the foods they intake, instead of accepting that their children have a debilitating disorder.

Clearly, a life with reduced or eliminated artificial dye intake is a healthier one. In Chloe’s case, her doctor advised the reduction of fake products from her diet. By doing so, she became healthier and showed less symptoms of disorders like those of ADHD. In addition, she eventually completely eliminated dye consumption and no longer wants anything containing them (Miller). If the American population were to do the same as Chloe by reducing and cutting out dye heavy products, overall, citizens would be healthier and by extension, happier. Parents particularly would be impacted by the changes in their children’s behavior. The reduction of dye consumption would lead to fewer misdiagnoses of debilitating disorders and better performance in school work and activities. In addition, elimination of dyes would make “eating with your eyes” much harder to do. Typically, products with low nutritional value are made to look appetizing through color effect, so eradication would in turn reduce the amounts of unhealthy foods humans consume. Your diet should include a range of vibrantly colored foods, but these foods should be the ones that are naturally rich in color. “Red bell peppers, purple eggplant, green spinach, blueberries and rainbow chard are all examples of healthy foods whose bright colors are signs of the important nutrients they contain. These are the food colors you need in your diet, not the man-made varieties found in most processed foods” (Mercola).

Artificial food dyes pose a great threat to humans, particularly Americans. With the amounts of dyes in our foods and little regulation on manufacturing, there is a greater risk for development of detrimental health conditions. Stricter regulations and warnings to consumers is a pivotal action the United States government needs to take for the protection of welfare of human beings. In addition, people themselves must change the way they buy and consume products in order to improve their health themselves through conscientious food purchasing and administration to others. Conscious prevention will lower the amount of diagnoses of attention related disorders as well as the quantities of medicine required to treat such issues. Steps towards dye free food buying and consumption will reduce risk of health and attention problems, as well as create an overall healthier country of people. Then, we can be more like Chloe, happy and healthy.  
