Do food dyes affect kids' behavior?

I can't say specifically about food dyes, but I'm sure that a lot of the other preservatives in food affect a lot of people, children and adults alike. I know of a girl that I went to school with who was severely allergic to RED dye. I don't know what it was about RED, but remembering her allergy and reading this discussion makes me think that idea isn't so far fetched.

I personally believe that those dyes do cause some kids problems and make them hyper. I have a friend that has two boys, and when they were young the school wanted them put on meds for their hyperactivity. She refused, researched, and cut out foods with dyes and it drastically changed their behaviour for the better. I don't know whether it's an allergic type thing, or if it's just the dyes themselves. I try and keep to the natural when giving my grandson things to eat, as I did when my own kids were young. Good for U.K! I sure wish the U.S. would follow suit by banning them from our foods here too!

Well, some colorings in food aren't made from natural materials. Alot of them are synthetic i.e. some sort of chemicle. So it'd stand to reason. I personally believe that it's probably the SUGAR that often accompanies COLOR Red 40 that affects behavior in children.

Hello beautyqueen26! My little brother was really hyper when we were little. I mean, back then, you had to be severly mentally disturbed to be put on ritalin. He was bad but not mentally unstable. The doctor that we were seeing back then told us to watch the intake on sugar. My dad being the smartbutt decided to prove this guy wrong. Come to find out that my dad, brother and myself have a sugar tolerance problem. If we gave TJ a snickers bar and waited for about 15 minutes--he would turn into incredible hulk/spawn of satan. My dad and I got lucky but we have to maintain a balance. I mean, dad and I could guzzle 4 20oz pepsis and be fine all day. TJ cannot do that. He flips out. It's like speed on an addict. So now, 20 some years later, we heard about the red dye. My one son is just like TJ with the sugar problem. We minimize the sugar. The only time I allow him to binge on sugar is just before I send him to his dad's for the weekend. That is once every two weeks. I know, how mean of me....His dad called me one weekend and said that he pulled out all of the red juices, kool-aids, m&m's and so forth. This red dye is as bad as they say. I don't understand the chemistry but it works like the sugar did on my brother. My brother was incarcerated for 10 years and for the last 7 he had eliminated the sugars and dyes altogether. He has done much better....makes me wonder about all of those children on Strattera, and Ritalin now. As for the government. They have to see a dramatic test result to prove that there is something with this dye thing. If they banned it altogether, soaps, pop, foods and other products we used would take a dramatic change, and some people don't like change. The other factor is amount. How much were these kids actually getting to make them like that or have other affects. I remember back in the 90's when they said that it causes cancer. If that were true they might have done something back then. It's all about the amount!

This has been an contraversial topic in the U.S. since the 1970's. Many people suspect a link between food dyes and ADHD, and Hyperactivity in general, but they have not proven their case in 30 years time. The thing is, children are fidgety people and they need to move around. The best thing for them is to play in wide open, green spaces. Parks work well for this, especially with lots of trees and playground equipment. Try playing games with your children like tag, mother may I and red rover. We play a fun one in Girl Scounts called Jenny Jones. It encourages structured interactions and running. Once children are physically tired, let them take a bath and then red and then sleep. Works great!

When I was a kid, my older brother was very hyperactive.So much so that he would get up in class and just start spinning around in circles until he fell on his rear. The doctors told my parents to limit his sugar intake as well as some food colorings. It apparently holds some truth because when my parents took this medical advice, my brother did much better. I think that children would fare better from this method rather than putting them on medication to calm them down. If the schools would pay more attention to what they are feeding the children, they may have less instances of behavioral problems.

I have a friend who follows a fairly rigid diet for her kids of a lot of organic foods and she avoids several foods and additives that she feels are really bad for them. Red 40 is one of the ingredients that she doesn't allow her kids to have and I have seen a difference in their behavior. I believe that this study is fairly true.

hi beauty queen I have also heard that certain dyes make kids really hyper. I wish we would ban red forty in the US as ot would really help the children. I also know from experience working inour local library helpping the kids librarian that plain old sugar in cookies, candy and such makes kids go on a sugar hi, they behave like little monkeys, hyper and out of control, running, giggling, jumping on things just acting like they are in a playground. usually Gayle would have some sort of treat for them at story hour and always it was full of sugar, so they were really hyper and doing everything but swinging from the ceiling lights lol and lol