Written by Aimee Wharton
Health Wire
There's a huge paradigm shift happening right now in the food industry — a move from artificial to natural colors.
Natural dyes made from ingredients like paprika, beet juice, and turmeric were once a niche trend among the organic crowd, but now they're gaining ground and becoming the norm. Even “Big Food” companies like Mars, Kraft, and Taco Bell are stepping up to make the switch from toxic additives to natural colors.
This is an important crossroads, given the amount of scientific evidence condemning synthetic concoctions with names like “Blue 2,” “Green 3,” and “Yellow 5.”
Killer Colors
Bear in mind that these artificial colors are FDA-approved, and each year more than 15 million pounds of them are poured into U.S. food products.1
Yet for James Huff, the associate director for chemical carcinogenesis at the National Institute of Health's Toxicology Program, these dyes clearly pose “unnecessary risks to humans — especially young children. It’s disappointing,” he adds, “that the FDA has not addressed the toxic threat posed by food dyes.” 2
For others, it's beyond disappointing. It's downright horrifying.
In a recently published scientific report titled, “Food Dyes: Rainbow of Risks,” the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), found that all nine of the currently FDA-approved dyes are associated with serious health concerns.
For example, CSPI says Blue 2 “cannot be considered safe given the statistically significant incidence of tumors,” particularly brain tumors, in laboratory animals. 3
Green 3 had its own carcinogenic effect, causing “significant increases in bladder and testes tumors in male rats.” 4
Red 3 was recognized back in 1990 as a thyroid carcinogen by the FDA, and subsequently banned from cosmetics and topical drugs... but it's still allowed in food and oral drugs, and Americans swallow 200,000 pounds of it per year. 5
The rest of the “colors” stack up no better.
“In addition to considerations of organ damage, cancer, birth defects, and allergic reactions,” CSPI says, “mixtures of dyes (and Yellow 5 tested alone) cause hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in some children.”
So the last thing you want to give a child hopped up on Easter candy is an egg that's been soaked in a colorful chemical cocktail. The good news is, you don't have to pass on this holiday tradition.
Instead, gobble down naturally dyed Easter eggs and feel safe sharing them with your family...
How to make all-natural, homemade Easter egg dyes: Read more....
