Intolerance to food colourings

AllergyUK, a UK based charity differentiates between food allergy and food intolerance as follows: In food allergy, an abnormal immune system response results in the body making antibodies to 'fight off' a food. However, some people suffer symptoms after eating certain foods even when they are not producing antibodies to fight against them. A variety of different mechanisms that are non-immune reactions but cause foods to affect people in this way are referred to as food intolerance.

Food Intolerance is considered by clinical experts and nutritionists to be much more common than food allergy. The onset of symptoms with food intolerance is usually slower, and may be delayed by many hours after eating the offending food. The symptoms may also last for several hours, even into the next day and sometimes longer. Intolerance to several foods or a group of foods is not uncommon, and it can be much more difficult to decide whether food intolerance is the cause of chronic illness, and which foods or substances may be responsible. 

Food colourings are artificial dyes added to foods to give it certain colours. These dyes are typically petroleum based and may be listed on the food packaging label as Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 3, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, etc.  Some natural colorants like carmine and annatto can also be included in this group of ‘baddies’. Today, food dyes are common in many foods ranging from that lovely grated cheddar cheese to the fizzy drinks cooling in the fridge!

 Some people have found that different colors cause varying symptoms for different dye-sensitive people.  For example, yellow dyes may cause hyperactivity in Kid A, eczema in Kid B, and vomiting for Kid C.  Some kids can tolerate blue and yellow dyes without symptoms, but react fiercely to red dyes.  More complicated still is the fact that most petroleum food dyes don’t exist alone in any given food.  They are mixed with other colors, plus petroleum-derived preservatives like Sodium Benzoate, BHT, BHA, and TBHQ.  Artificial flavorings like vanillin have also been found to cause similar reactions like artificial food dyes.

The idea that dyes in food causes ADHD was first noted in "Why Your Child is Hyperactive," a book written by Dr. Benjamin Feingold in 1975. The eating style described in the book became known as the Feingold Diet. Feingold found out that if you eliminated artificial food dyes and additives in American diets, cases of hyperactivity in children, later defined as ADHD, would decline. A more recent study to highlight the connection between food dyes and ADHD was the study by researchers at the University of Southampton in 2007. The Southampton group showed that artificial food dyes along with sodium benzoate (a white salt used as a food preservative) increased ADHD symptoms in both hyperactive and non-hyperactive children. Their subsequent follow up study in 2010 then found a link between the food dye, hyperactivity and the presence of histamine in the body. Histamine is a chemical that is produced in the brain when the body is having an allergic reaction.

The good news is that in Europe, many European companies have started excluding dyes from their food products especially the Blue #1, Yellow #5 and #6 and are substituting them with natural colorings. But many critics in both US and Europe are calling for either a complete ban or more explicit labeling. ‘Why are these dyes in these foods anyway?’ asked Michael Jacobsen, executive director of the Center for Science and Public Interest, a watchdog group on nutrition and food safety in USA. “I would push for having them being taken out completely. But if that can’t be done, why not warn the public and parents that these dyes could have some effects?”

A Food and Drug Administration (USA) advisory committee decided recently that there was insufficient evidence to support a link between artificial dyes in foods and children with ADHD.  This was after listening to testimonials from parents on how food dyes have caused their children to show heightened signs of hyperactivity! The committee then went on to say it was not prepared to ban or regulate dye additives found in food products but that it would like to stress that there seems to be a trend with artificial dyes and side effects in children and that more research was needed. 

The onus is therefore on the parent or carer to decide what is best in their child’s interest!

There are some laboratories today that can offer extensive testing on intolerance to food colouring. From personal experience though, I found out that it works just fine to do it the old fashioned way – observe, record, eliminate, re-observe and re-record. And when you sort out the diet at home and eliminate foods with unwanted dye colourings, you would need to explain to well-meaning friends, families, teachers and carers to not give your child food except what he or she brings to school! And the face paints and temporary tattoos at parties? Well, you may also need to pass up on that!

 I found the list below of symptoms that could mean you have intolerance to food colouring.

1.  Hyperactivity:  Can’t stop moving, runs most of the time, constant movement of hands and feet

2.  Lack of attention:  Cannot focus either at home or school – without affecting all areas of life all the time

3.  Sleep problems:   Has a hard time settling down for sleep, or has sleep disturbances throughout the night.

4.  Mood swings:  Unexplained emotional problems, hours-long tantrums, inconsolable crying, paranoia, and meltdowns over tiny things or schedule changes.

5.  Violence/Aggression:  Biting, spitting, growling, hitting, kicking, and uncharacteristic mean talk.

6.  Lack of impulse control:  Increase in risky behaviors, excessive talking at inappropriate times, loud talking, disruptive, interrupts people a lot, hard to transition from one activity to another, does not adjust behavior in response to discipline.

7.  The Ickies:  Headaches, stomach aches, and vomiting.

8.  Bed-wetting:  This includes daytime wetting, well past the age of toilet training.

9.  Skin ailments:  Eczema and hives.  My daughter had eczema and cradle cap before we eliminated dyes.

10. Breathing problems:  Some kids require an inhaler due to dye-induced asthma.

11. Compulsiveness:  Pulls out hair, eyelashes or eyebrows, picks at skin, repeats certain actions numerous times.

12. Not consistent: This is the single most important clue to watch for.  Can you give your kid sugary treats without problems some days, but then other times, they freak out?  

Contact us today if you would like more information on this.