Candy shop, to be honest, was a heaven to me when I was 7. Every week the most excited thing was begging my mom to bring me to there and grab a full bag of candy bars. I know that the reason I like them is not because they have amazing taste but because of their colorful outlooks. Most of the kids having the same thought like me, would bring to candy shop considerable benefits, but what do those colorful candy bars bring to kids? Are they good for kid’s health?
The secret candy bar using in addicting kids attention is taking bright color as a outwear jacket. Dark red, bright yellow, sky blue and grass green, etc. all of those colors are kids favorite when combined with yummy candies together. The components used to make them, however, are believed to have potential threaten to kid’s brain and DNA. Blue dye number 1 and 2 are linked with cancer in animal tests, while red dye number 3 causes thyroid tumors in rats. Green dye number 3 is linked to bladder cancer, and yellow dye number 6 is linked to tumors of the kidneys and adrenal glands…(The Dark Side Of Food Colors (Plus Natural Coloring Alternatives 14 may 2013). All of those statistics from research and observation shows out a truth that food color is harmful for kid’s body- leading to behavioral issues.
Actually, it has been a long time arguing for the influence of food color to kids. Early enough to 1970, there was a doctor named Benjamin Feingold who brought up that artificial color maybe related to some kids behavioral issues, but until 2007, the study group of The University of Southampton in England first did the experimental research in this field. In that research, using double-blinded way, the staff provided two groups of kid, 153 of them were 3, and the left 144 were 8-9 years old, soft drink, but the drink for the first group was added food color and antiseptic, when the second one didn’t. The result of the research showed that the group drinking drinks with food color and antiseptic appeared excessive active and distraction.
Just seeing the research did by the University of Southampton, people may have feeling of worrying about their kid’s health. If we rethink that famous research thoroughly, however, there are still problems exist. First, although there are behavioral issues showing up, we cannot sure if the problem is caused by food color in soft drink directly, because the antiseptic or other food addictive also have ability to make influence to human’s body system, or if kids’ behavioral issues are the result of working together by those chemical components. Second, although the “significant difference” appeared in the result of the research, because the difference of behave is too small to compare, we cannot sure whether that result can work in the real world.
Even though there’s no clear evidence said that food color has any related to kids behavioral problem, parents should still try to keep their children away from beautiful candy bars. If the color is what children like instead of sugar itself, parents can use vegetables or fruits to make food color at home for their kids. Here’s some sources for food color’s making, if you are interested in colorful world too, make it by yourself!
Green: spinach juice
Orange: pumpkin or carrot juice
Pink: raspberries or beetroot
Blue: blueberries
Purple: red cabbage or grapes
Yellow: yellow carrots, turmeric powder, saffron flowers
Citation:
http://www.guokr.com/article/439390/
http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/the-dark-side-of-food-colors-plus-natural-coloring-alternatives
Cool post! It’s an interesting concept whether food coloring can truly affect children. WebMD discussed a study done in 2007 that showed children ages 3-9 were given different drinks and foods with a few different dyes to see the reaction. It showed that the children that consumed more dyes were more likely to suffer from ADHD. So it is a possibility, but not definitively. The FDA actually has to regulate how much food coloring can be used. If the FDA has to limit food coloring…maybe it should be eliminated. Just a thought!
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/food-dye-adhd
I’ve always heard about how bad artificial colors can be for us. Something that I would have never thought about prior to this class is the effects of whatever substance on animals. Although I’m not denying the possibility that artificial dyes could cause cancer, just because they cause cancer in rodents doesn’t mean they will cause cancer in humans. Just a thought!
Great post!!! Now I know why mother kept told me that those coloring pigments inside candy bars are bad. It is shocking that they are linked with different diseases though. When I was about 8 or 9 years old, I thought blueberries, egg plants, and other vegetables or plants that have the same color as them had coloring pigment inside them, because of their distinctive standing out color. Those vegetables or fruits that I mentioned in earlier sentence (blueberries and egg plants) have an Anthocyanin. Anthocyanin has coloring pigment of purple and blue. This pigment, Anthocynin is well known to have numerous health benefits. According to http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/9-health-benefits-of-anthocyanins.html, Anthocyanin prevent cancer, anti inflammatory, and diabetes. It reliefs allergy and make the eyesight better. It is also used to treat ulcer, and improves the heat health.