Throughout the United States, a long boost to ban artificial dyes in food is gained renewed momentum, as critics insist on dyes that it is not a matter if, but when.
The states like West Virginia were martyred in the Make Make Healthy movement again, led by the Minister of Health and Humanitarian Services Robert F. Kennedy Junior, as a driving force, along with fears between parents and some scholars that dyes may contribute to behavioral problems in children – a link to food and medicine management it is Monitoring, but it did not arise.
In the first three months of the year, 20 states – including Oklahoma, West Virginia and New York – have submitted approximately 40 invisions aimed at taking strict measures Synthetic dyes And other food added materials, the most in any year, according to the environmental work group, which is the food safety safety group.
“The documentary,” said Brandon Kawood, a defender of eliminating food dyes, alongside his wife, Whitney, “Document: The Documentary Film,” a film cited by legislators in West Virginia, alongside his wife Whitney. “Oklahoma, Utah, Tennessee has bills on the table. Florida, New York, Texas, Arizona. All these states everywhere appear.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to 36 colored additions, including nine artificial pigments used in foods and drinks. Among them is Red No. 3, it was approved for food use in 1907, although the agency banned it in January due to concerns about the potential cancer risks.
Experts say they are commonly used in products that are marketed for children, including candy, breakfast and soda, because vast, vibrant shapes are particularly striking.
Earlier this month, legislators in Western Virginia passed a bill prohibiting seven of these dyes – including Red No. 40 and Green no. 3 – Who is scheduled to enter in 2028 if it signs the law of the governor of the state. The draft law follows a similar step from California last year that banned six dyes of food that is presented in public schools.
On Wednesday, the lawmakers in Arizona held a round table discussion on a draft law prohibiting public schools from serving or selling foods that contain some chemicals, including artificial dyes.
Kennedy batch to eliminate artificial dyes
“There is a notice” Health, Who is also a former fda senior Adviser and former DePlement undertecretary for Food Safety at the Agriculture Department. “I really think Maha plays a big role in this.”
It is not a new movement in any way: The Food and Drug Administration has started taking steps to consider a possible link between dyes and behavioral problems in children in the seventies, when the sensitivity and pediatrician in California is I suggest a possible connection. The agency achieved more after a 2007 a study published in LancetThe artificial dyes said increased hyperactivity in children.
In 2011 and 2019, the Food and Drug Administration as well Data reviewed But no causal relationship can be determined for children who have not already been diagnosed with behavioral disorders. Scientists and doctors have He called for more research On the topic. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not respond to a comment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it “has reviewed and will continue to examine the effects of color additives on children’s behavior.”
Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not reach a call, this did not prevent government officials and external groups from insisting on the existence of one – or concerns of parents.
“It is extremely important to really change our school food,” said West Virginia del Warr. “We have some behavioral problems in our school system today, and I will not all address them to food dyes, but it is a contributing worker.”
Kennedy, who supervises the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and claimed that the dyes that pre -claimed were linked to hyperactivity and learning disorders. quote Report 2021 From the California Environmental Health Office, food dyes can intervene with natural behavior in some children.
He pledges to get rid of artificial dyes from the country’s food supplies, and the executives of major food companies inform at a closed meeting this month that he wanted them all at the end of his term, according to an official at HHS. It is not clear whether he will get money or resources to do so, however, given the broad goal of the Trump administration of reducing federal spending throughout the government.
Other dyes allowed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) RED No. 40, used in grains, gelatin and sweets; Yellow No. 5, used in snacks, spices, baked goods and milk; And green number 3, is used in ice cream, drinks and drink.
Marion Nestle, Professor of Emerita for Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at New York University, said the slow efforts made by the FDA to take action on artificial dyes have forced states and local groups to progress.
The state lawmakers also refer to other countries, such as those in Europe, where food dyes are largely organized.
However, Nestle added, any action taken by the Food and Drug Administration should be based on prohibiting some chemicals on sound scientific evidence that shows a possible link. The agency’s ban was based on Red No. 3 To research that connects the chemical to cancer in laboratory mice. Although there was no evidence in humans, it was sufficient to persuade food and drugs management.
While some research has suggested that there is a link between some dyes and an increase in hyperactivity, mood or irritation in children, the evidence is still not conclusive, which may explain the reason for the department of food and drugs.
“The search is really difficult to do,” Nestle said. ” “You can’t do it in people. You cannot take a group of children and give some food dyes and another group of children and you don’t see what is happening.” She noted that there is evidence that some children respond badly to colored dyes.
Nevertheless, it may become difficult for food companies to defend the use of chemicals – especially because they do not maintain food or provide food benefit, Nestlé said.
In a statement, Sarah Gallo, Vice -President of Product Policy for the Consumer Brands Association, a commercial group in industry, said that food and beverage makers are committed to food safety and criticized an approach after another.
Gallo said: “The government patching approach to food regulations creates unnecessary confusion for consumers, determines access to daily goods and increases costs in the grocery store.”
Mandy, from Harvard University, said that he does not buy arguments from some food companies about the high cost of moving away from artificial dyes, noting that companies managed to find “natural” additions to be replaced in other countries where this synthetic is banned.
Nestle said that some companies have tried to eliminate industrial dyes from their products in the past, although they are unsuccessful.
Mars announced a plan in 2016 Remove artificial dyes from all their products but Abandoning the pledge In 2021, he said: “We have found that consumer expectations regarding colors in food differ greatly through markets and groups.”
General Mills also switched into natural dyes in her pills in 2016, however I repeat artificial colors after a year After consumers complained that the new colors were frustrated.
“We don’t really need these things. Its only function is cosmetics,” Nestle said. “Do we have to use the European precaution: if we cannot prove that these things are safe, we will not use them?”
This is the way Windy Pacus, 34, from Florida, took her children, Harper, 7, Kaden, 3, away from foods that have artificial dyes about a year ago.
You are concerned about the possible health issues of dyes, joined a group of families on Facebook that have a similar transition that narrates resources and recipes.
She said that the most challenging part of the transition was to find a sweet -free candy that loves her children, especially Harper.
However, they found alternatives, such as a trademark called Unreal, and discovered that Trader Joe’s offers candy without artificial dyes.
“We did not eat much, like saying, saving rings and things,” said Bakos. “With candy, especially like Halloween, it was so,” Wait again, why can’t I eat it? “But as soon as I presented it to the alternatives, she was fine with her.”
Likewise, Liz Dent, 36, from Humboldt, Iowa, did not find many problems when she stopped buying foods with dyes for her children Evelyn, 9, Ela, 6 years old. Her family has been free of dye since 2021.
She sends her children to school with the dye -free candy, bullets and snacks of the fruit. It always maintains a square of juice boxes and bulbs.
She said that the most difficult part of the transition was attending events, such as birthday parties.
“When we are on special occasions, such as an entertainment garden or an exhibition, if we go to the Disney world, we must only bring our food,” Denn said. “If we go somewhere, and anyone else can get a snow cone, my children cannot get it. My children cannot get cotton candy. My children cannot get cookies or ice cream.”