Controversies have surrounded the safety of artificial dyes for decades, and yet they are in nearly everything we consume. How dangerous are they really, and is regulation warranted?
What did we ever do before artificial dyes? lol.... seems big Ag/big Food succeeded in getting people to desire bold colors in their food... now if they color those insects the same bold colors perhaps most of the population will fall right in line.
Anecdotally, removing red dye from my grandson's diet did reduce meltdowns.
Well, before artificial dyes we didn't have processed foods, so no need to hyper colorize everything! It is really fascinating to think of how influential colors can be in our eating habits. It's funny you mention coloring insects, since one coloring agent used often in foods is Carmine, which comes from beetles. When crushed they turn this bright red color. I think strawberry yogurts were generally a food item that used carmine.
That's interesting with the red dyes. Was it red dyes alone, or other artificial colors as well?
They focused on red but yellow as well just due to its reputation. The red was the most noticeable difference. With my son, in his own words, he would turn into a woman when he had dairy - emotional meltdowns. So perhaps the real issue is inflammation that starts a cascade of reactions?
I wonder if methylene blue would color food? It's a lovely color for things like jelly beans.
Generally informative! Of course they are safe, the voldemort says so!
On Skittles
Skittles contains…. 2% or less …. colors (9 dyes listed) The entire package is 61.5 Grams. 2% is about 1.2 grams color dyes. Not the 61.5g of the entire package.
So I reread my comment and I can see why it may be confusing. When referencing Skittles I referred to the McCann, et al. study which suggested that the food dye amount used in the study was equivalent to two 56 g bags of sweets, so my reference to Skittles was done as a comparative sweet, although my main point was suggested that "bag of sweets" doesn't tell us much about what sweets given that different candies will have different levels of dyes.
What did we ever do before artificial dyes? lol.... seems big Ag/big Food succeeded in getting people to desire bold colors in their food... now if they color those insects the same bold colors perhaps most of the population will fall right in line.
Anecdotally, removing red dye from my grandson's diet did reduce meltdowns.
Well, before artificial dyes we didn't have processed foods, so no need to hyper colorize everything! It is really fascinating to think of how influential colors can be in our eating habits. It's funny you mention coloring insects, since one coloring agent used often in foods is Carmine, which comes from beetles. When crushed they turn this bright red color. I think strawberry yogurts were generally a food item that used carmine.
That's interesting with the red dyes. Was it red dyes alone, or other artificial colors as well?
They focused on red but yellow as well just due to its reputation. The red was the most noticeable difference. With my son, in his own words, he would turn into a woman when he had dairy - emotional meltdowns. So perhaps the real issue is inflammation that starts a cascade of reactions?
I wonder if methylene blue would color food? It's a lovely color for things like jelly beans.
Generally informative! Of course they are safe, the voldemort says so!
On Skittles
Skittles contains…. 2% or less …. colors (9 dyes listed) The entire package is 61.5 Grams. 2% is about 1.2 grams color dyes. Not the 61.5g of the entire package.
https://www.skittles.com/products/skittles-original-fruity-candy-single-pack-217-oz-skittles-chewy
So I reread my comment and I can see why it may be confusing. When referencing Skittles I referred to the McCann, et al. study which suggested that the food dye amount used in the study was equivalent to two 56 g bags of sweets, so my reference to Skittles was done as a comparative sweet, although my main point was suggested that "bag of sweets" doesn't tell us much about what sweets given that different candies will have different levels of dyes.