The driving factors for the creation of adderall, vyvanse, ritalin, etc. for our kids who seems to have a difficult time paying attention. Big drug companies are seeing a profitable outcome from the increasing use and prescription of drugs aimed at keeping our children compliant.
Keeping this in mind, lets look at the big corporations who make the most popular children's brand food.
Some of the many side effects of food coloring in food products are:
1. hyperactivity
2. restlessness
3. attention problems
and in some cases
4. cancer
"
- Blue 2: linked to brain tumors in mice
- Green 3: linked to bladder cancer back in 1981
- Yellow 3: known to cause some mild allergic reactions – especially in people who are sensitive to aspirin
- Yellow 6: associated with cancer of the adrenal glands and kidneys as well as possible allergic reactions
- Red 3: was considered for banning in 1983 because of a possible link to thyroid tumors
Why do these food colorings attack the body?
They are made from coal tar and petrochemicals, and our bodies were not created to process this type of energy, This disrupts the normal flow of the nervous system which is why food coloring is linked to ADHA and ADD."
So why do these corporations insist on using these types of ingredients in their products?
Visual Appeal. and eventually a profit.
No child wants brown Lucky Charms marshmallows in their cereal. That's no fun.
And needless to say, even to an adult, a colorful looking drink is much more appealing than the alternative.
We all know the color of Coca Cola would be green if the company didn't add food coloring.
Moral of the Story:
Avoid the artificial.
And if you follow looking through one of the links, you will see that fruit is not void of food coloring. They are now dying oranges...to make them look more orange... ironic, i know.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500803_162-4151130-500803.html
http://blog.foodnetwork.com/healthyeats/2010/06/30/artificial-colors-are-they-safe/
http://glassvisage.hubpages.com/hub/The-dangers-of-food-colorings
The information in these articles are very interesting. I knew about the Red dye being bad for you but, I didn't know about the rest of them and the link to ADHA and ADD. It probably wouldn't solve all the cases of ADHA and ADD with the removal of these dyes from our food sources. Yet, it would be nice to see the number of cases reported every year go down, and to have these corporations put the health concerns of their customers before profits. Of course the Big Drug Companies don't have any interest in reducing the number of cases of ADHA and ADD because, that would just reduce their profits. It just amazes me how the FDA has had opportunities to ban these dyes, yet they never actually do anything about it. It is just a statement of the true power of Big Corporation lobbyist.
ReplyDeleteWow! This was really interesting. I have known people to avoid artificial food coloring, but I never knew why. I definitely think it is our job to keep ourselves informed about what we are putting in our bodies because the more I learn about food, the more I realize how much we are harming ourselves without even knowing it.
ReplyDeleteI know big drug companies relish in our need of these medications.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you all are understanding my general theme of this blog: not one change can have a substantial impact, but maybe a big number of them can.