The Dye That Stole Christmas
It might be an exaggeration, because no dye will ever ‘steal Christmas,” BUT it was a major bummer the day I realized that one of kid’s favorite holiday treats, candy canes, had a VERY undesirable ingredient.
Every year I usually grab them a box from wherever I see them first without thinking too much about it: sometimes it’s Whole Foods, other years it might be Target or CVS. Even though I pay close attention to ingredients all year - for some reason I had not given candy canes much thought…. UNTIL I saw something that horrified & completely grossed me out…. Oreo flavored candy canes. EW I immediately looked at the ingredients & there it was; RED DYE 40. Then, I quickly looked at the ingredients of the traditional candy canes &…. sure enough, there it was again : RED DYE 40.
Red Dye 40, an ingredient I am quite familiar with and actively avoid was not only in the (for me) gross Oreo flavored candy canes BUT it was also in my childhood favorite (and my son’s fav) traditional peppermint candycanes.
Red dye 40 is:
an Azo Dye made of petrochemicals
the most widely used of the 9 FDA-approved artificial food colorings
Found to cause increase hyperactivity in children
Required in the EU to have a label that reads “may have an adverse effect on activity & attention in children”-
There is evidence, although inconclusive, that it can accelerates the appearance of tumors of the immune system in mice.
Like other dyes, red dye 40 contains upwards of 10 % impurities from the manufacturing process. Health Canada scientists, identified small amounts of carcinogenic impurities in Red Dye 40
The most well documented of these concerns is the hyperactivity and behavior effects it has on children- both those with pre-existing problems like ADHD hyperactivity and those without
Over 5.8 million children in the US are diagnosed with ADHD and 69% of those are taking medication. Study’s have found that hyperactive children’s behavior improves dramatically when these dyes are removed from their diet- no medication necessary. That is the impact that this dye can have on the brain of a young child.
How to avoid it?
First, you have to learn to identify it by becoming a label reader: The good news is that more and more food companies are phasing out Red 40 from food- however it can still be found in some foods and, not all of the foods with Red Dye 40 are red. You will also find it in brown, blue, green, orange, and even white food products, too.
It can use any of these names:
• Allura Red AC\
• Allura Red
• C.I. 16035
• C.I. Food Red 17
• FD&C Red No. 40
• Red 40
• Red No. 40
Some foods that contain Red Dye 40 include:
candy canes
skittles
M & Ms
Jello
Gatorade
Children’s Tylenol
Gatorade
Welch’s fruit snacks
Fruit Loops
Sunny D Juice
fruit roll ups,
red velvet cake and mixes
2. Look for natural, unprocessed food. Certified organic food does not allow artificial dyes like Red dye 40, instead they use natural food coloring like Beet juice, beta-carotene, blueberry juice concentrate, turmeric etc
Have I banished candy canes from home?
No- lucky for me YumEarth makes candy canes made with radish, apple & blackcurrants.
And if they are gifted a ‘normal’ candy cane, its fine for them to enjoy, however having a child with mild ADHD I am glad I know and can control his overall intake of all artificial dyes (lucky for us we do eat mostly organic and fresh foods so it is very very little that we are exposed too!)
SOURCES
https://cspinet.org/sites/default/files/attachment/food-dyes-rainbow-of-risks.pdf
www.help4adhd.org/en/about/statistics
adhdnet.com/wp/papers/Schab2004.pdf
https://www.fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/foodadditivesingredients/ucm488219.htm