I came across a discussion today on Facebook that really caught my attention. A friend on mine posted a link to Food Inc. and then the discussion below it was about Halloween candy and Red 40 Dye. You see my friend has an autistic child and she is very aware of what food items she puts in his body. I don’t have any children with autism so I pretty much go with the flow. I certainly encourage my children to eat healthy and make healthy choices. We cook a lot in our home with very fresh ingredients so I am not overly concerned. But since we have a giant bag of candy in our house from trick or treating and it is flu season so I have been passing out spoonfuls of cough medicine like it was candy this dye issue is starting to bother me. I am posting the conversation here so you can see what these mothers are going through.
Holly, I’m so glad there is someone else looking at this – I don’t believe in the FDA anymore! My son has had kidney damage (long story) but b/c of this I’ve done a lot of research about foods & the dyes that are put into them – dyes: yellow, blue, orange & red 40 they are finding correlations to ADD & ADHD, autism & kidney damage (especially red 40… when you start looking at the ingredients dyes are in everything! I’m also reading Jillian michaels book “master ur metabolism” & she talks about food, chemicals, etc that affect our hormones! Absolutely scary! I grow most of our veggies & have cut out all processed foods!
Way to go Emily!!! So savvy and cool! I’m very sorry to hear about your son’s kidney damage and that it could have been prevented. You are so wise to grow your own food and to be shunning foods made in a chemical plant. Why these “foods” (we’ll call them that for sake of conversation) are allowed to be sold is beyond me.
p.s. Holly…….My kids don’t eat candy normally but I allowed my youngest to eat a little last night. He asked me which ones he could eat from his bag and I said, “nothing that is blue or green!” lol! He ate some “white” nerds and a couple of tootsie rolls then I snuck in a few mini-bags of Annie’s fruit chews which he THINKS are candy. … ha ha! He was perfectly satisfied and convinced that he had eaten CANDY!
My oldest (with autism) cannot talk so I always say, “when he can ask me for candy then I’ll give it to him”. Until that time, candy is not our target goal word!
I hid the candy and am going to go through it in a bit to get the heavily dyed stuff out. I will tell you both that there is NO doubt that Andrew is affected by Red 40. No doubt. It makes a HUGE difference in his hyperactivity.
Oh, and unfortunately Andrew knows how to say he wants candy all too well! He won’t tell me most things, but “I want candy” is a favorite. 
That’s funny!! Candy isn’t in our house either but I’ll go through it & it mysteriously disappears- lol! Another interesting tad bit on red 40- it is the worst of the dyes, yet when u have a kidney infection ur told to drink cranberry juice & what does cranberry juice have? Red dye 40!
Why does medicine need to be colored if it’s flavored? If it tastes good, kids will take it. Why does it have to be red, orange, yellow or purple? And why does medicine for adults need to colored? Why does Sudafed for adults have to be red? I usually wipe the color off medicine tabs with a damp paper towel – comes right off.
I thought that conversation was too important not to share. It has really opened my eyes. I hope it inspires you to read more labels and ask more questions. Here are some other good articles about Red 40 Dye. Please read it and tell me what you think.
Is the Red 40 Food Dye Additive Having a Negative Impact on Your Child??
Watchdog Group Wants Ban on Yellow 5, Red 40, and Other Artificial Food Dyes Linked to Hyperactivity, Behavior Problems
