Artificial food colouring warning
The BBC is reporting that “Parents are being advised by experts not to give their children food containing certain additives until the results of a new study are published”. Another food health scare?
Specifically the additives tartrazine (E102), ponceau 4R (E124), sunset yellow (E110), carmoisine (E122), quinoline yellow (E104) and allura red AC (E129) have been mentioned not to be given to those between the ages of 3 and 9. It is these additives that were reported several years ago as possible sources of temper tantrums, poor concentration, hyperactivity and allergic reactions in children.
All the additives tested are approved for use in the EU but some of the colours are banned in Scandinavian countries and the United States. They have no nutritional value.
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As a parent and a chef I am appalled at the continuing path that too many food manufacturers choose. One of profit at all cost….now I am definitely not against profit but it should be at any cost. Lets take a moment to consider the costs?
Poor quality ingredients masked by chemical additives to improve the taste, texture and aroma. No thought for the long-term health effects of these chemicals on consumers.
Many of the worst type of junk foods are marketed at young children, and the manufacturers are allowed legally to mislead the consumer with confusing often false claims on the packet…. e.g.…. low in sugar means often full of harmful artificial sweeteners.
Low in fat means supplemented with chemical jelling agents or edible waxes.
Surely there is a commonsense connection between the growing percentage of people suffering from allergies and the toxic dumps (our bodies) food manufacturers make us unwittingly make us party to. A notable professor of toxicology at Liverpool University said..”Basically E numbers are in foods to enhance the taste, texture and smell of poor quality ingredients and I would not touch foods that contain them”
Companies will have to be pushed by consumers and government into making its products healthier because in 2007 most large companies no longer have a moral compass. Governments need to realize the hidden costs of these kinds of foods because
It’s estimated that by 2015 up to 40% of the population will suffer from a food intolerance or food allergy.
Because this issue is a slowly ticking time bomb…successive governments and consumers don’t take the issue seriously. Using independent research we need to find out why the numbers of allergy sufferers continues to grow and ask the question.… Can we reverse the trend if the food is free of pesticides, E numbers, hormones and growth enhancers?
Has the world gone mad were a growing number of girls are reaching puberty around 8 years of age and doctors are saying this is due in part to the hormone growth enhancers we unwittingly eat in our meat and milk.
I wont let my 4 year old eat Pringles because ever time she did my normally polite and placid little girl became a nightmare. So as parents and consumers we need to pay more attention to what we and in particularly what our kids eat and stop fooling ourselves with the notion if its sold in a supermarket it can’t harm us. My schoolteacher friends all claim that concentration and behavior in class has improved now that junk food and fizzy drinks have been removed from the school vending machines.
The problem is akin to the issue of cancer and smoking 30 years ago, the industry giants are making too much money with the current status quo…so why would they want to change things?
In the USA the Food and Drug Administration virtually grazes on the good will and bones thrown (read job offers) made by the food giants over there and I don’t think in reality the UK is much better.