Toddler Tantrums by Jane Hersey

When 3-year-olds in Great Britain were given food dyes and a preservative

 something unexpected happened.

 The researchers found that a modest amount of food additives had a

profound effect on the children's behavior. 277 preschool age children on the Isle

of Wight who participated in the study were youngsters who behaved normally;

 none of them were considered to be hyperactive, ADD, ADHD, PDD, etc. Yet

 during the test period when they consumed drinks with food dyes and the

 preservative sodium benzoate, nearly one child in four clearly showed

 disturbed behavior. For two weeks the children drank fruit juice that did not contain

additives, and then during the other two weeks their juice looked the same, but

 contained a blend of four food dyes and the preservative sodium benzoate.

 The parents were not aware of when the children received the plain juice

and when their juice was laced with additives. During the "challenge period"

(when the children consumed the chemicals) parents reported these

reactions: disturbing others, difficulty settling down to sleep, poor concentration

and temper tantrums.

 The amount of dye used, 20 milligrams, is very small, considering the

number of brightly colored foods children typically consume today, particularly

in the United States.

 To give you an idea of what twenty mg. of dye equals, it's about the

amount you would find in two teaspoons of colored frosting, not even enough to

cover a cupcake. If such a small dose could trigger problems for one fourth of the children, what would be the effect of using a more

 typical dose? Ten times the amount used in the British study would be more representative of what an American child ingests in a day. And the child attending a birthday party, consuming dyes in the cake, ice cream, drink and candy can easily reach 600 milligrams. Even when a family limits the sweets, children are exposed to growing amounts of petroleum-based dyes in their

 toothpaste, vitamins, cereals, "fruit" juices, and medicines.

 This study demonstrates what parents have been reporting for decades: their

 children behave badly after they eat certain foods. Now it has been

 documented that food additives affect the behavior of children who have no

 history of behavior problems. The study suggests that the more a child

 consumes, the greater his chance of being affected.

 As a result of this study, the British Food Commission, an independent

 watchdog, is demanding that those additives be removed from food and

drinks

 designed for children. They estimate that the elimination of the

troublesome

 additives would significantly reduce the number of children who are

 diagnosed as hyperactive.

 There's an ugly side to those pretty colors

 Most of the food dyes found in products marketed to children are made from

 petroleum (crude oil), just like gasoline.

Food additives, including dyes, are not required to be tested to determine

 if they can affect behavior. But studies have shown that they are

 responsible both for behavior problems and for an assortment of serious

 health problems.

 Red dyes were found to cause DNA damage, physical toxicity, possible

breast

 cancer and damage to the reproductive systems of test animals.

 Yellow dyes led to migraine headaches, suppression of the immune system,

 abdominal pain, asthma, eczema and cancer.

 When the American Academy of Pediatrics studied the damaging effects of

 "inactive" ingredients - the dyes used in drugs and thought to have

 no effect - they found that the additives are far from inactive. Most

 of them triggered various respiratory problems. Considering the epidemic

of childhood asthma, that health professionals are at a loss to explain, a

good place to look for clues would be right under our noses. or more

 specifically, under the noses of the children who routinely ingest phony

 fruit drinks, green ketchup, blue applesauce, purple vitamins, pink

 antibiotics and fluorescent cereals.

 For more information on dyes and their effects, see:

 Jane Hersey is the National Director of the Feingold Association and the

 author of the book, "Why Can't My Child Behave?