Does Red Dye No. 40 Cause Behavioral Outbursts in Children?

November 30, 2008

You are what you eat and so the saying goes, but a group of parents believe that the food coloring their children digest affects their behavior. Commonly found in processed foods like Twizzlers, Doritos and Twinkies as well as baked goods, red dye no. 40 is to blame for aggressive outbursts in kids according to some moms and dads. The FDA maintains that the dye is safe for consumption. What's your opinion?

27 Comments

2 years 8 weeks

I am 100% convinced that it is the dye that causes these problems in many many children!!!! Our son is now 14, and this whole time, we thought he was "allergic" to chocolate. Along with various other things: corn dogs, twizzlers, mac and cheese, etc. He almost never gets candy. No dye at all for 4 days, no problems at all, happiest kid anyone could have. Content and peaceful and fun. Today he had pink lemonade, strawberry yogurt and pizza. Within 10 minutes, we were sitting in class in school (I am his aide) he burst out screaming literally out of no where!!!!!! :( He yelled out his head hurt, then he started screaming about something that has nothing to do with anything. (Like he was possessed or something~ Seriously! ) This is a boy that never tells us how he is feeling. It's been a long time of trial and lots of error... but I am 100% sure its the dye. If it makes children miserable and in turn makes the child feel bad, is it really worth giving it? Absolutely Not!

3 years 5 weeks

I think this stuff does it because my sister is 15 years old, and she throws outbursts for the stupidest of things, and almost everytime after she does, she has had some sort of red dye 40 food. She gets mad and throws temper tantrums for the stupidest of things, like right now shes whining back and forth, because my dad wont buy her toontown online, its getting really old, and its breaking my parents up, and my family.

3 years 19 weeks

My two oldest daughters both had colic and acid reflux as infants. When they got old enough to chew, the doctors said I should try letting them have chewable tums (I got the pink berry ones) in addition to their pink milicon, pink orajel and pink tylenol. The doctors later put them on several reflux meds including prilosec b/c the tums wasn't working. (By the way, several of those meds were pink or purple). Naturally, the reflux meds didn't work either. We eventually had to take them both, at age 2 and 3, to the cleveland clinic for an upper GI scan which showed many burn holes in their esophoguses etc... caused by the acid coming back up. At that point I removed everything from their diet that was not grown or farm raised. Ironically the reflux disappeared. They began to get it again only when I introduced a food that had red #40. The doctors don't believe me; but I have proof.... my kids are healthy now and relflux and medicine free! I don't understand why they put so much dye in everything..... ho hum.

3 years 20 weeks

Red 40??? Not Good!! It took me several years to figure out why my back hurt-Doctor visits, Chiropractors, no help there. Then, I found out that every time I ate something with RED 40 in it - it would inflame my sciatic nerve- and would take about 3-4 days to flush it out of my body- I felt like I was 1000 years old and could not move-Everything all had one thing in common- RED 40- it's in tooth paste to confectioned items as well as many candies and drinks- if have just a small dose of it, I soon feel it and have to pay for the pain it causes me. So if your back hurts- suggest reading food labels etc… and stay away from anything you might suspect having RED 40 in it.

4 years 6 weeks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EYqnEmsO7g (about red 40)

julie donaldson 4 years 15 weeks

I took my six year old son off sugar for about two weeks after it seemed he was acting silly and loud all the time. I really was happy with the results. I bought him some sugar free gummy bears and he was off the wall. He was so hyper I could not believe it. I started tracking what he ate and it was so many dyes in the candy. Why dont they just take the dye out of the food! I now only buy all natural fruit popsickles and such. I think the dye is like poison for our children.

Twistedturtle 4 years 16 weeks

My son can eat a bagel withOUT red 40 in it and be fine. Same goes for cereal, crackers, soup, canned biscuits and any other food withOUT red 40. If he does use/eat any product WITH red 40 he becomes severely agitated and uncontrollable. He becomes almost violent. It is very scary for us as a family of 5 and especially for him because he knows it isn't his fault. We never buy anything with red 40 in it. He would love a Dorito or a Pillsbury cinnamon roll but it just isn't going to happen. But there are alternatives for these products. You just have to look. For instance some yogurts have red 40 and some don't. No one is going to stop using red 40. Because no one cares.

spirit35 4 years 24 weeks

It's quite interesting to me why they get things in Europe and they don't here ,could it be greediness,I don't understand how they could understand it's not good for these kids but America can't.Even now I won't buy any drinks or yogurt with aspartame or sucrlose,it's not good for any age to consume,we think we're doing ourselves better with artificial sweetners but it's actually worse,what is this world coming to...

GONATURAL 4 years 24 weeks

I would imagine most people do not know what these dyes are made of. The reason why so many kids have trouble with the dyes is because they are made of petroleum. Yes, petroleum. The preservatives BHT, BHA & TBHQ are also made of petroleum. My son was on meds for ADHD for 3 years. I knew he reacted to Red40 years ago. I didn't realize all of the dyes affected his behavior. I too am doing the Feingold Program, and after 6 weeks I was able to take my son off of meds. You wouldn't know he ever needed them. We definitely can't rely on the FDA to do what is best for us. England is banning the dyes due to the effect on kids. Europe is requiring a warning label to be added to foods that contain these dyes that reads "May have adverse effect on attention and activity in children". The US companies like Nestle and McDonald's make a naturally colored version of their food for them and send us the bad stuff because the FDA says it is okay. For now, we just have to choose the right foods for our kids that don't contain these dyes and preservatives. Hopefully one day our country will ban them too.

deeberj 4 years 24 weeks

Yes, I know that food affects behavior. Artificials affect behavior, and so do some natural foods and some preservatives. But it is difficult to read labels, and labeling loopholes can allow things to not be listed on the label. The Feingold Organization researches foods to find ones that don't have artificials and certain preservatives. Becoming a member gives you access to that info. My son had really awful behavior problems related to food (expelled from school kind of behavior), but once we went on the Feingold diet he has normal behavior. Another poster mentioned Feingold, but it's not that hard to do. Becoming a member of the not-for-profit organization gives you access to a Food Guide of prepared foods that have been researched for artificials, and it even lets you know if the foods have MSG or Corn syrup. There's a members' BB where you can get help, and lots of materials to help you do the program. We've been 8 yrs on it and much happier and healthier because of it.

deeberj 4 years 24 weeks

Yes, I know that food affects behavior. Artificials affect behavior, and so do some natural foods and some preservatives. But it is difficult to read labels, and labeling loopholes can allow things to not be listed on the label. The Feingold Organization researches foods to find ones that don't have artificials and certain preservatives. Becoming a member gives you access to that info.My son had really awful behavior problems related to food (expelled from school kind of behavior), but once we went on the Feingold diet he has normal behavior. Another poster mentioned Feingold, but it's not that hard to do. Becoming a member of the not-for-profit organization gives you access to a Food Guide of prepared foods that have been researched for artificials, and it even lets you know if the foods have MSG or Corn syrup. There's a members' BB where you can get help, and lots of materials to help you do the program. We've been 8 yrs on it and much happier and healthier because of it.

kristints 4 years 24 weeks

My nephew was found to be allergic to it and after eating it once, he bounced off the walls for hours.

CaterpillarGirl 4 years 25 weeks

I am going to say No, I dont believe its the dye. BUT it can however be the kids diet and discipline. If the kid is munching away on junk food 24/7 they will have outbursts.

roxtarchic 4 years 25 weeks

I agree w/foxie's assessment of the fda... just this past week i read an article that they've found melamine in formula & havent pulled the products, stating that the levels are so low it's safe... I think what one child can tolerate, isn't the same as others (like others have mentioned). our children suffer from so many chronic diseases these days.... asthma, diabetes... it's alarming. who's to say these chemicals arent affecting children... the fda? just another reason we try to do all organic (at least as much as we possibly can)...

jkatie 4 years 25 weeks

blue dye #2 i believe was a bad one for me

spirit35 4 years 25 weeks

Wow I have read this,I think it was the Feingold diet or something like that,it's just so hard,everything has so much crap in it.I have been giving my daughter Kids Calm(magnesium)everyday,has helped headaches by the way and fish oil(flavored)and has helped some.I have done alot of research on this,as a matter of fact I am reading "the Truth about Beauty"by Kat James right now about the same thing(very good book by the way).

KAEB06 4 years 25 weeks

totally agree!There is so much crap in todays food it's insane. We put my son on a diet where he doesn't eat processed food or foods with additives (like dyes) and it has done wonders!I think people would be shocked if they looked closely at labels and looked up the items listed to see what they are really eating!

KAEB06 4 years 25 weeks

totally agree! There is so much crap in todays food it's insane. We put my son on a diet where he doesn't eat processed food or foods with additives (like dyes) and it has done wonders! I think people would be shocked if they looked closely at labels and looked up the items listed to see what they are really eating!

Colleeninator 4 years 25 weeks

I'm with Greggie also.Also, isn't it silly for the FDA to just say that it's fine to eat, and doesn't cause any adverse reactions, when there's obviously a noteworthy amount of people having problems with it? Maybe they should look into it, instead of just going "Oh, no, that's ridiculous".

Colleeninator 4 years 25 weeks

I'm with Greggie also. Also, isn't it silly for the FDA to just say that it's fine to eat, and doesn't cause any adverse reactions, when there's obviously a noteworthy amount of people having problems with it? Maybe they should look into it, instead of just going "Oh, no, that's ridiculous".

spirit35 4 years 25 weeks

I do agree with Greggie,there are children just like adults that have sensitivities to various things.

Greggie 4 years 25 weeks

I think if you're sensitive to something, it causes problem. If a child is sensitive to the dye, it's going to affect them. I don't think red dye no. 40 is alone in this. We don't avoid it altogether because my kids don't seem to show a sensitivity to it, but we don't go out of our way to get it either.

Greggie 4 years 25 weeks

spirit35 4 years 25 weeks

I do believe some of this,we are getting so far from natural these days,you can't do this and not pay the consequences sooner or later,but some I fear is from a lack discipline and respect,and yes I do speak from personal experience,I tend to be a little lax and I am paying for it now,though don't get me wrong my child is sweet she just knows what she can get away with.

bluepuppybites 4 years 25 weeks

Our whole family believes this. I had ADHD when I was little and my mom tried all sorts of things before she wanted to put me on medicine. She read that all sorts of things can screw with your body's chemicals; red dye being one of them. Also included was band-aids, and other preservatives. My sister's kids too have behavioral problems and so they are on an all-natural diet as much as possible.

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