Cheetos?

[M and N's Mom]

We are very health conscious, but do let our kids have some junk food.  Well, with Halloween just passed today DS tried Cheetos for the first time.  He at them at about 3:30 this afternoon and from then until we finally got him settled at bedtime (7:30ish) he had numerous screaming fits where he was absolutely hysterical.  It would be triggered by something relatively small (e.g. we told him we only had time for 3 books at bedtime and he wanted 5) and he would scream/cry louder than I have ever heard him, hyperventilate, and take quite a lot of talking and cuddling to calm him down.  This went on all night with extreme fits.

DS is quite spirited and has a temper but I have NEVER seen it to this extreme.  It was like he was possessed.  He was fine the rest of the day until that point.

Anyone else experienced anything like this?

BTW, DD ate them too and was fine.

[aidliz]

I have never had this happen but, it could have been one of the dyes or a chemical in the Cheetos that make him react badly...or it could have been just...one of those days.

[Mydreamcametrue]

What kind of foods does he normally eat?  From all my wonderful research that I am doing now on foods because of my son's potato intolerant and fruit/sugar combo intolerance, I have found out that Cheetos contain potato because of the enriched corn. 

They also have a certain dye in them that kids can really react to and cause this type of behavior.

Check out this link:
babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=124647.0

It says that a lot of children are sensitive to Red Dye 40, which is in cheetos.

Also post what he eats on a regular bases and we may be able to pinpoint it down. 

[Zoey]

There are different kinds of Cheetos but...

Enriched Corn Meal (Corn Meal, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Thiamin Monoitrate, Riboflavin, and Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil (Contains one or more of the following: corn, soybean, or sunflower oil), Whey, Salt, Cheddar Cheese, (Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes). Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Maltodextrin, Disodium Phosphate, Sour Cream (Cultured Cream, Nonfat Milk), Artificial Flavor, Monosodium Glutamate, Lactic Acid, Artificial Colors (Including Yellow 6), and Citric Acid. Contains Milk Ingredients.

I was gonna say that how O acts when he has red dyes - but I didn't see red dye listed for the Cheetos.

But here -  http://www.cheetos.com/retro/parents_products.php   -  you can click "Nutrition info" for the info on each kind they make to see what was in the ones DS got.

The MSG perhaps?

[Mydreamcametrue]

I was going off the link/forum I posted, after I looked I did not see Red dye either in Cheetos that we have.

[M and N's Mom]

Thanks everyone.  I wondered about the MSG too Zoey, but I know he has had it.  We do try to avoid it but it is in things like Onion soup powder and some canned soups that I have cooked with. 

We eat pretty healthy...lots of fruit, veggies, rice pastas, free range meat, etc.  That being said, it isn't like they haven't been exposed to "junk" food occasionally.  I'm wondering about the food die and may have to do more reading about that.

My SIL said my niece reacts similarly with things with artificial cheeses (Doritos, Cheetos, cheese-flavoured popcorn, etc.) so maybe there's something in that.

[Mydreamcametrue]

Interesting, deft. worth checking into.