Food Coloring, Preservatives Make Children Behave Badly

Certain artificial food colorings and other additives can worsen hyperactive behaviors in children aged 3 to 9, British researchers reported on Wednesday.

Tests on more than 300 children showed significant differences in their behavior when they drank fruit drinks spiked with a mixture of food colorings and preservatives, Jim Stevenson and colleagues at the University of Southampton said.

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[Trilby]

05:45 PM on 09/08/2007

OK. You know what else causes kids to act badly? Today's overly indulgent parents who think their little darlings are god's gift to the world.

[vippy]

10:49 AM on 09/07/2007

The government now wants to pasteurize ALMONDS!
Have they lost their minds??? Even if you try
to live healthy it is impossible since all the fresh vegetables in the stores were prepped to
stay fresh for a period of time. The enzymes in the fruit and veggies have been killed already. There is not one fruit drink on the market that has not been pasteurized. Want Vitamin C then find an orchard or take vitamins.
And congress now wants to ban vitamins or make them so expensive that no one can afford them.
I think we are going to be one sick nation.
They tell us that we are obese yet they put the
preservatives, hormones,sugar and MSG into the food.
For crying out loud - get back to basics. I want to be able to buy fresh milk, not homogenized and pasteurized and then I would not
complain about the $ 4.50 a gallon.
Well, all I can see, a sick nation who needs a lot of medical attention - all from your government and greedy corporations!

[CintiBlue]

11:11 AM on 09/07/2007

I've read warnings that the word 'pasteurize' will be used instead of 'irradiation' - more acceptable don't you know.

I don't automatically believe everything I read, but the food industry is an exception.

[TakeSake]

05:01 AM on 09/07/2007

My short list of things to avoid:
1) Nutra(sic)Sweet, AKA Aspartame
2) High Fructose Corn Syrup, AKA HFCS
3) Monosodium Glutamate, AKA MSG
4) Wheat (gluten intolerance, plus others)
5) Dairy (lactose intolerance, plus others)

Here's a project for you. Go to the store and look through the children's medicines. Count how many have Yellow #5. Then count the number of snacks with Yellow #5. Can you find a pattern?

[CintiBlue]

07:51 AM on 09/07/2007

Don't forget, MSG is disguised by at least 30 different names. Food manufacturers know people try to avoid it so they rename it. There was brief discussion a couple of days ago about manufacturers knowing how to get your taste buds to keep buying their products, and they do it very well.

Yes, these tests have been conducted for a long time. The manufacturers are well aware of the effects their additives have. Time and tons of money are spent to counteract the truth coming out.

I never consider this old news and hope consumers hear the truth and spend their money on cleaner food. Those who make this stuff are never going to change for your benefit.

[dobberdoss]

03:19 AM on 09/07/2007

Jezz, I knew this back in the 80`s!, is this really NEW news?

Cmon, stop re-hashing this stuff which is just commonsense. Maybe `commonsense` is forever gone?

[StopThePlanet]

01:02 AM on 09/07/2007

Maybe that's why Bu$h invaded Iraq, its his diet.

[loki]

12:16 AM on 09/07/2007

FanFrickenTastic. Your telling me that my kids have been poisoned , for the Ol Mighty dollar and profit of corporate America.

For years every other major country in the world has been doing studies and even banning things like hormone enhanced Chicken and other meats because of the overwhelming scientific research showing the harm it can cause. Like in Australia the studies show that girls would form breast earlier and actually some started having periods as early as 8 years of age, because of hormone enhanced Chicken. So they banned it. That was many years ago,
But here in the US, we say, There might be a study somewhere, sometime in the future that might discredit those other studies, so why not wait. The famous, " we dont have all the facts yet" statement like with Global Warming.
Problem is, if we wait until you cant deny it, its to fricken late. But hey, this is America, where death, deformity and mental retardation is worth the price to keep the stock price up and the money flowing. Remember the Corporate Poster Child of MSNBC Erin Burnett's statements about how we need to put up with lead and poisons in our kids toys if we expect the prices to be low, and the corporations to keep making the huge profits. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B_lroC-XTM

God help us all when our kids get older and all of these chemically induced defects come back to haunt us as a nation. You think Bubba Bush is a retard, wait until you see what 2024 brings us. This will be the good old days by then.

[outnow]

11:53 PM on 09/06/2007

Dyes cause hyperactivity in children. One blue jawbreaker could make my son wild for hours. His mother is a family physician. We both conducted the experiment together. People believe that it is the parenting and not the food additives. They also are getting cancer. Just don't tell them the real facts because they know everything there is to know already - if it's sold in stores it's good for your kid.

[itolduso]

09:23 AM on 09/07/2007

And now they're adding them to water-there's a big push on to convince people that plain water isn't good enough (it very much resembles the campaign to convince Americans that our tap water was full of 'impurities'-very successful, note the boom in bottled water)Quick-line up to buy "Super Water" (in bright colors to lure the kids)

[CintiBlue]

09:30 AM on 09/07/2007

There's an ad out with a new bottle shape that will get your child to drink that water. Please tell me parent aren't that stupid.

[UncleJack]

10:18 PM on 09/06/2007

Sounds like someone should dust off the old "Feingold Diet" and "Allergic Tension Fatigue Syndrome". Too bad neither makes any money for the medical industry. Many families would benefit if they did.

[forpeace]

09:44 PM on 09/06/2007

*

Then Bush had so much Food Coloring and Preservatives when he was a kid!

*

[drblack]

08:25 PM on 09/06/2007

As usual the media jumps on the findings of one small study and acts as though this is now an absolute fact.
This may be so. I also note that the children were given high and pure doses of these things and often the amount of something makes all the difference.
It is unfortunate that so few Americans understand the scientific method because it is the only way so far we can find out what is going on.
Look at so called "second hand smoke". All credible studies are inconclusive or show no effect ; and of course common sense concludes that while directly inhaling smoke is bad because of the tar,breathing in a small amount of smoke filtered by lungs and the filter is not going to cause problems unless you live in a phone both with a chain smoker .
It is just prejudice against the smell.

[grainger5]

09:29 PM on 09/06/2007

A high dose can also be cumulative. From the day a child is born it is fed a steady diet of hormones, chemicals, and propaganda that builds and builds till it finally causes the child to be a Republican.

[BeerHolder]

02:24 AM on 09/07/2007

You left out brain shrinking and a build up of estrogen in male congressmen.

[ornery]

08:22 PM on 09/06/2007

Not only kids. Many adults have degrees of reaction to MSG. Ranging from lethargy and drowsiness to incontinence and worse.

Why isn't this stuff banned altogether?

[BeerHolder]

02:22 AM on 09/07/2007

And don't forget horny. MSG drives girls absolutely wild!

[farseer]

01:42 PM on 09/06/2007

Wow, this is a big story! A breakthrough. If such additives do have this effect, then removing them will result in a significant behavior and health improvement among kids.

[sonofsamstone]

11:10 AM on 09/06/2007

It's not too hard to lay off the food colorings and preservatives. Stay away from processed foods as much as possible, that about covers it. Besides, admit it....you don't really like Hamburger Helper or Rice A Roni anyway. It's not *so* convienient that it's worth assaulting your taste buds or risking your family's health.
Lots of fruits and vegetables, organic eggs and meats (sparingly) and WATER INSTEAD OF JUICE! Buy a Brita filter or something, ditch the plastic bottles. Everything in moderation.
If you've got chronicly hyperactive kids, try an elimination diet for a week or 2. I've heard it helps pinpoint food allergies and hyperactivity triggers.

[kwright]

10:48 AM on 09/06/2007

blah, blah, blah. this is not new information. i am the mother of five boys. my oldest son in 35 now. this data has been available for most of his lifetime. it is nothing new. children will misbehave if parents do not take the time to teach them right from wrong.

[dadw5boys]

10:02 AM on 09/06/2007

So children should not eat or drink?
Even milk is a chemical concotion now!
Hormones in the foods. Benzine is used to make plastic bottles and creates a female hormone that leaches into the foods over time.
A female hormone can make women agressive and men passive.
Look at your society today! Got more agressive women? More pasive men?
Keep sucking on those plastic bottles!

[BUSHsurvivor]

11:11 PM on 09/06/2007

So Little Georgie Bush is the way he is from licking all of those Easter eggs?

Another piece of the puzzle!

[BeerHolder]

02:21 AM on 09/07/2007

Why is Bush making that face?