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EAT => Food Allergies => Topic started by: jayne on May 31, 2008, 23:04:16 pm
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just wanted to share my findings with all of you..
gina who is 3 1/2 yrs old has had many manic moments in her life...so many times i just attributed it to overtired/overstimulated..one day after a birthday party she had a really manic moment --in these moments she stares right through me and it seems as if she cant hear me... she can be really violent kicking,screaming,she at time would bury her head in her hands and shake..among other things.
after doing an elimination diet we figured out that the common thread was red food dye 40. After taking her off of red dye she is a calmer happier child.
just thought it was worth sharing.
Red 40 is a commonly used food coloring dye added to a variety of products. While it may make food esthetically pleasing in appearance, it can cause a negative reaction in those who consume it.
Children are most often the ones who have sensitivity to red 40, whether or not their parents have realized it or not. Reactions include temper tantrums, hyperactivity, aggressive behavior, uncontrollable crying and screaming, kicking, nervousness, dizziness, inability to concentrate and sit still among other findings. Physically you may get frequent headaches or migraines, upset stomach and feel ill after ingesting this additive. Often when Red 40 is eliminated from the child's diet a remarkable change is noticed immediately.
Red 40 is used in many food products including kool-aid, orange and other flavored sodas, cheetos and dorito chips, strawberry pop-tarts, any candy with red coloring to it including m&m's, skittles, many chewing gums, etc. Also many children's vitamins and pain relievers/cold medicine have red 40 in the ingredients.
When red 40 was first approved by the FDA as a food coloring additive there was some controversy as to whether or not it caused tumors and cancer. Those claims have been proven to be false but now many parents, Doctors and Teachers are becoming aware of other concerns regarding intake of red 40, especially in young children.
Many times consumable products include both high amounts of sugar as well as red #40 so it can be hard to determine if the child's behavior or reaction is because of the sugar or because of the food dye. Both can cause similar results but it is clear that red 40 can be a culprit on it's own as similar results occur when sugar is not present. Children who have been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) generally have significant improvements of their behavior and ability to concentrate when artificial additives such as red food dye is removed from their diet. Red 40 can also affect adults; it is a common trigger for migraines. It can also cause an upset stomach and make you feel uncomfortable and jittery.
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thanks for sharing Jayne - glad to hear you have seen a positive change.
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Just an FYI for people who are interested in cutting this out of their diets - in the UK, this additive is known as E129, and the FSA (Food Standard Agency) has recommended all manufacturers cut it out by 2009. They have it down as 'NRC' Not Recommended for Children, but check the label. It's banned in 7 European countries (Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and Austria).
Here's a good guide to the additives which have been linked to hyperactive behaviour
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Very interesting. Thanks for the info.
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thanks carolyn I didnt realize it had a different name
I wish they would ban it from the states too.. there is really no need for it as it has no nutritional value..
and it is in alot of things I would never expect.. like their morning vitamins-- nice way to start out the day ::)
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meant to ask - when you see something that says no artifical colourings but is a colour - has it been established that these "natural" food colourings are better. i do tend to buy things that say that as a general rule - thinking the key was to avoid these artificial ones. anyone know? just want to make sure i am right since it is impossible for me to have zero packaged foods etc
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thanks for sharing Jayne - glad to hear you have seen a positive change.
thanks me too ;D we just got back from a birthday party and instead of dreadful evening it has been such a joy ;Dmeant to ask - when you see something that says no artifical colourings but is a colour - has it been established that these "natural" food colourings are better. i do tend to buy things that say that as a general rule - thinking the key was to avoid these artificial ones. anyone know? just want to make sure i am right since it is impossible for me to have zero packaged foods etc
check this out under "other dyes" see if that answers your question.. otherwise I am not sure
http://www.red40.com./pages/foods/index.html
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WOW, some info I hadn't read yet. And good to see countries actually banning the stuff.
It IS hard to avoid packaged foods altogether. The last few days J has been particularly off the wall and it occurs to me that we've been consuming some Memorial Day party leftovers, including some (BLEAH! :-X) cheddar cheese Pringles - and I bet they have fake coloring in them. :P
Thanks for the info - goes upstairs to check list of ingredients......
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deb i will bet that cheddar cheese pringles have red dye in them... most things orange or purple have red dye in them..(as do obviously red stuff) also check vanilla icing,some vanilla cake mix,choc. cake mix--
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Just checked the Pringles website (the cans are empty :P) and there are 2 artificial Yellows plus turmeric extract for more yellow but I didn't see any red, surprisingly.
Must check vitamins (although they're even sugar-free, sweetened with xylitol, and I think dye-free too, colored with fruit juice) and cereal bars from Trader Joe's next....
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well thats good :) :)
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Thank you SO MUCH for this info. I think I am going to make this one a sticky.
This is great info. Thanks.
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Just to add my thanks too. I came to this post as I have just had an incredibly wearing afternoon of hyper-activity, refusal to nap and then screaming before bed and I suspected an allergy to some squash DS had this morning. Unfortunately it was at a friend's so I can't check the label but the drink was blackcurrent so it probably did have red dye in. Also thanks for giving the UK name. I will definitely try to cut it out though I am concerned that if DS is allergic to it, it will be increasingly difficult to avoid once he is older - demanding sweets and going to birthday parties on his own etc.
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must say that even though red dye is in alot of things there still are alot of things its not in..Gina knows she cant have it and we talk about why... we had my older dd's b-day this weekend and we had a pinata filled with tootsie roll stuff (best i could find without red dye) and gina had gotten a red tootsie pop.. so she exchanged with angela for a brown one..
gina has an intolerance i believe rather than an allergy because she has no allergic symptoms (rash,hives,throwing up etc.)
so maybe he will outgrow it or he will just learn to live with it (saying it will not be an issue for him--kwim??)
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I'm a big fan of non-food items for pinatas and Halloween too! We have a friend whose DD is allergic to GOBS of food stuff and every October she roots thru her Oriental Trading Company catalog for goodies. :)
And a week at the beach with that family with the DD should ensure us some good eating for that span of time.
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Pulling all artificial coloring out of my sons diet has helped immensely with eliminating a skin rash that was covering his entire back and was requiring doctor's attention.
We eat pretty healthy and natural but in reading ingredients of EVERYTHING we have, was shocked to find color listed as an ingredient in: our cheddar cheese and soy cheese (we now buy aged old white cheddar), pancake mix, Miracle Whip (like mayonnaise), and some spices like Lemon Pepper.
Not sure if everyone's child is as sensitive to all coloring as my child but thought I'd throw it out there that staying away from artificial coloring was trickier than I thought.
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Just wondering, was this something that you did on your own or did the doctors tell you to try?
Is his rash completely gone? That is great.
Thanks for sharing :) Wendy
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Our reg doctor prescribed cortisone cream for his rash and said he'd eventually grow out of it. Even with the cream he always had a rash covering his entire back - just varying degrees of it. At its worst it looked like we were raking his back/bum because he'd scratch so hard he'd bleed. And we were kind of hoping for more answers than to apply cortisone for the next couple years....
We took him to a natural doctor. Based on that visit we took him off of processed food, MSG, and food coloring and cook more naturally using only sea salt instead of regular salt. Within days his rash completely disappeared.
It is pretty difficult to 100% avoid food coloring (with my "well-meaning" relatives anyways!). Anytime they give our boy even just a little candy, pop or other with coloring in it we notice an immediate change in his personality (gets super active, has problems sleeping, etc) and he gets a faint rash.
But at least we can get him on track right away and his rash is gone again within 2 days. Crazy thing is we cooked pretty naturally even before. That's why I was so surprised to find out food coloring was lurking in a whole pile of "healthy" things!
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Hi Ladies, I have just been looking into this whole thing as my 20 month old DS has started biting/hiting etc. I found this rather interesting list. Hope it helps some. It is labeled 'best avoided by Children'
Sweetners
E951 Aspartame
Colours
E102 Tartrazine
E104 Quinoline Yellow
E107 Yellow 2G
E110 Sunset Yellow
E120 Cochineal
E122 Carmoisine
E123 Amaranth
E124 Ponceau 4R
E127 Erythrosine
E128 Red 2G
E129 Allura Red
E131 Patent Blue V
E132 Indigo Carmine
E133 Brilliant Blue FCF
E142 Green S
E151 Black PN
E154 Brown FK
Back to top of page
Preservatives
E210 Benzoic acid
E211 Sodium benzoate
E212 Potassium benzoate
E213 Calcium benzoate
E214 Ethyl 4-hydroxybenzoate
E215 Ethyl 4-hydroxybenzoate sodium salt
E216 Propyl 4-hydroxybenzoate
E217 Propyl 4-hydroxybenzoate sodium salt
E218 Methyl 4- hydroxybenzoate
E219 Methyl 4- hydroxybenzoate sodium salt
E220 Sulphur dioxide
E221 Sodium sulphite
E222 Sodium hydrogen sulphite
E223 Sodium metabisulphite
E224 Pottasium metabisulphite
E226 Calcium sulphite
E227 Calcium hydrogen sulphite
E230 Biphenyl
E231 2-Hydroxybiphenyl
E232 Sodium biphenyl-2-yl oxide
E233 2-(Thiazol-4-yl) benzimidazole
E239 Hexamine
E249 Potassium nitrite
E250 Sodium nitrite
E251 Sodium nitrate
E252 Potassium nitrate
Back to top of page
Hidden dangers!
Monosodium Glutamate E621 is a notifiable additive, however it can also be found in the form of hydrolyzed protein. When added to food in this form, there is no requirement to state the presence of monosodium glutamate. For additional information click here.
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I wrote Nature Valley and asked them why their granola bars have food coloring. This was their response:
Dear Valued Consumer:
Thank you for contacting General Mills about the use of artificial flavors and colors in our products.
Most people would agree that food tastes better if its appearance is pleasing. Because processing or high temperature cooking tends to destroy natural colors, natural or artificial color is added. When natural flavorings are in short supply, artificial flavorings are used. They maintain a stable flavor level during processing and storage of the product. We are researching ways to reduce artificial coloring and still produce an attractive product. The food coloring used is completely harmless to your family's health; however, we understand and respect your concern and desire to provide good, wholesome food for your family.
We appreciate the opportunity to share this information with you and hope you continue to choose our products.
Sincerely,
Nancy Jackson
Consumer Services
And so this was my response back:
Dear Nancy,
Actually, Red 40, which is in your sweet & salty peanut, cashew and mixed nut granola bars (at least), is not completely harmless. Studies have shown that this food coloring, and possibly others, has been linked to several maladies, not the least of which is ADHD-like behavior. Once removed from some children's diet, there is such marked improvement that said children have been "undiagnosed" as having ADHD, meaning they never had it to begin with and their behavior was a direct result of food dye ingestion. Additionally, Red 40 has been banned in several European countries, and labeled as an ingredient not to be ingested by children in England. Moreover, they are attempting to have all foods Red 40 free by 2009.
I appreciate the opportunity to share this information with you, and hope you find it useful for the next person who queries you regarding food dyes.
Sincerely,
Maureen
I haven't heard back...
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Ooh, nice one! Let us know what their response is, if any. :)
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will do!
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great letter... I cant believe that there is red dye in that too!!! for petes sake..
looking forward to the response you get back (if any :P)
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yeah. dead air as of yet....shocking.
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Sam used to get hyper from artificial colouring and Jenn still has eczema flare ups when she has them-
And...
BUMP!!!
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I've heard mention of Red 40 before and find myself concerned however we don't have any food sensative issues.
I know this is going to sound silly but do any of you feel strongly enough by what you've researched/seen for yourself that it would be wise for all of us to elimiate dyes from our diet. Child or adult?
ON a related note, I do try to keep a healthy diet but occassionally will make something like Lipton Pasta Sidekicks or processed cheese slices as part of a meal. Each time I buy these things and/or make them for our family something in my brian whispers "what if they find out this stuff is responsible for the cancers so many of our loved ones have ended up with"? The guilt I feel is there everytime yet I am at a loss as to how to begin to eliminate these things as well as choose alternatives that are tasty and fast.
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I think a lot of it for people without known sensitivities (I qualify that for a reason ;)) is to keep it in moderation. If you're only getting that stuff once in a while and your body has a chance to process it and eliminate it without it building up before the next meal of it, it's probably not that big a deal. For people whose bodies have a hard time working with it, though, it's DEFINITELY worth getting out of the habit.
For a REALLY scary read about food additives, check out the book Nourishing Traditions. It's on the reactionary side, but it also has a LOT of food information in there, along with some amazing recipes, that have really changed the way we eat here. We've started cooking a LOT more from scratch, making some of our own unprocessed foods - we've even been known to make our own crackers, and with the food dehydrator I got at a yard sale a couple summers ago, we've made our own fruit leather. (It also works with canned or fresh pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices to make pumpkin leather - a LOT healthier than Fruit Rollups! :)) The girls not only eat fresh veggies and herbs from the garden right off the plant (just TRY and stop Natalie from pulling up the carrots, which reminds me, gotta plant another crop! ::) :)), but we've discovered that two of our most common weeds are edible AND nutritious! (Wood sorrell and purslane) The girls think it's cool to eat like rabbits. LOL
Anyway, must run but will of course be back..... :)
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OMG i had no idea the list could be that long.... :o
am marking my spot for news on a reply to that letter! :)
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i received no response from them, perhaps because they can't argue with the point! ugh!
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Sounds abiout right >:(
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Jumping into the discussion a bit late and a wee bit off topic, but still same idea!
I am allergic to tartaric acid / tartrazine / yellow 102. I get itchy, covered hives, red watery eyes, tickly throat, etc. I can usually tell instantly when I've eaten something with tartrazine in it. Surprisingly, the culprits are often NOT yellow or even green or orange. Many clear things have tartrazine in them, and even red or blue things, which always confounds me.
Tartrazine is cross tolerant with aspirin - meaning if you are allergic to one you are allergic to the other. We knew I was allergic to aspirin (nasty reaction when I was quite young, from baby aspirin) but when I was a teenager and had my allergies tested one of the things we were never able to figure out was the food. It was the allergist who explained the cross tolerance, and he even suggested that if I could handle it, then once every year or so, I should eat something with tartrazine in it so that I would know if I was still allergic to aspirin. Not worth chancing the aspirin because my reaction is severe, but it's only surface with the yellow.
Anyway, not sure if that helps anyone at all!
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that is very interesting .. thanks for sharing your story.
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I wrote another post on the health and medical boards about annatto, b/c that is where I first posted my question. But here is our experience with Annatto also know as yellow 140b.
My dd is very high strung and seemed out of control. After looking into autism and other issues, I came on BW and asked the intelligent ladies here, and quite a few suggested food issues. AFter a lot of research, and food diaries, etc., I found that my dd is intolerant to Annatto. The problem with Annatto is that it is NATURAL, it comes from a plant in South America, so it is in a lot of "healthy" foods. I figured it out becuase it is in Goldfish Crackers, my dd's absolute favorite, almost daily snack. I noticed that if she had goldfish in the morning, she was a mess all afternoon. I researched Annatto and learned that it causes sleeplessness and irritablity, among other things. It is also in my dd's other fave foods- vanilla yogurt, cheddar cheese, wheat thin crackers, the list goes on and on.
After cutting out Annatto (I've always tried to keep out artificial colors!) she is now a different child. She is still strong willed, and 2 years old, but she is so much more reasonable and In-control. She still might throw a fit, but she no longer gets the vacant stare, and the unstoppable screaming and shaking her head. Now she throws a fit and moves on. My dh didn't beleive me at first (after all of my very hard work of cutting the crap out of her diet, he had the audacity to say, "I'm glad Ellie's growing out of her problems" not, "good job on figuring her out, darling") until he gave her goldfish one morning and then witnessed the difference in her that afternoon. She's sleeping better, she's smiling more, laughing more, interacting more, and def. more enjoyable to be around.
Just because something is Natural does not mean it can't cause problems as well. If this helps anyone else, I'll be very glad. It really has made a huge difference in her- and for us, too!
A good website (and the book by her, too) that has info on all additives/preservatives is www.fedupwithfoodadditives.com
good luck!
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Hmm, I'm wondering about this stuff for James. He has eczema & known food allergy to peanuts & eggs. The eggs cause eczema flare-ups. But he still has eczema after cutting out the egg. I'm wondering if he has other food sensitivities that we don't know off and the allergist suggested I keep a food journal. It' seems almost impossible as the eczema is always there, just worse in the winter & I don't know what else may be the cause. Also, the behavior stuff.
Do you think it's possible for a 3 yr old to pick up on this stuff? It just crossed my mind, but the last few weeks James has been choosing on his own without me ever mentioning it, to stay away from "red" foods & drinks. I didn't know if it was just another phase, or if he actually knows it makes him not feel good? For example, we have Cranberry & Grape juices and also apple & orange juices. He always chooses apple & orange. The other day when I offered him cran-grape juice, he said "no I don't like red juice, I only like orange juice". I thought it was just my picky eater child. Then for Valentine's day he was eating some smarties candies & he picked out all the pink ones & gave them to Alex. He said "I don't like the pink" Of course I'm sure the other colors also have the same dye in them, but the fact that he was removing the pink ones specifically.
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you never know.. gina says red dye gives her a tummy ache... (of course that was after we had figured it out) although i have to say she had eaten some red dye after her valentines party.. I am sure it was in some candy that we didnt realize it was in-- and WOW bedtime couldnt come soon enough!!
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I just checked the ingredients on our juices and no red dye. So it' just my child being picky about color or maybe he just doesn't like the taste of cranberry. That's okay. I will try to stay away from the Red 40 dye now though after reading this thread. Thanks!
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Jenn is heavily allergic rasperries, cranberries and strawberries. Give her itchy lips, arms, chin. And bumps and all.
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Am so pleased I saw this thread! I have been convinced for ages that Sophie has some food intolerances but can't seem to pin it down. I don't buy squash to drink as she always comes out in a rash when she has it, but only the no- added- sugar stuff, which leads me to think it's the aspartame causing the problem.
Also last week we were at Jen's house (Maffoo's mummy) and the kids had a Calippo each- Sophie went loopy! I've never seen her so hyper, it was really bizarre. And recently I gave her a Slush Puppy as an experiment (I know, baaaaad mother) and, well, she was so vile all afternoon that at bath time I locked myself in the bathroom and cried because I couldn't handle her. Ho hum, won't be doing that again ::)
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Wow! I'll definitely be watching out for the red dye!
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Ladies,
I just came across some info on the "Feingold Diet". Has anyone ever heard of this? After looking back at this thread & seeing some of the responses about not only red dye, but yellow dye, aspirin derivitives, aspartame and berries... WOW! ALL of this stuff is eliminated on the Feingold diet! The diet was originally made for allergies, and then it was noticed that improvement in behavior and attention was a "side effect". Dr. Feingold then started researching this diet for ADHD. Some of the symptoms this diet helps include: hyperactivity, impulsive behavior, attention span, neuromuscular involvement including speech difficulties & delays!, asthma, bedwetting, eczema, congestion, & sleep problems!!! James has all these symptoms! I know that he is "sensitive" and sensitivities don't show up on allergy tests, so even though we only know he is allergic to peanut & egg at this point, he could have other sensitivities that we are unaware of right now.
I'm off to find out more about this Feingold thing, if anyone here has heard of it or tried it, please post!!
http://www.feingold.org
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all this just infuriates me!! you would think that if they found that all dye has one or another effect on children they could eliminate it we dont need to have artificially colored stuff--its really not GOOD for anyone!!
yesterday I tried to find some stomach medicine for gina.. she had a sour stomach and some stomach cramping.. ALL stomach medicine has one form of red dye-- it wasnt red 40 but it was red 12,(i think) and red 33-- and since red 40 gives her stomach pain I couldnt risk it with another red dye.. why does it have to be pink?? arghhh!!! clear medicine would do the exact same thing!!!
***deep breath.. ****deep breath.. okay feeling a bit calmer :)
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thanks for the info on the feingold diet.. very interesting!! got too caught up in my rant and forgot to add it to my post :P