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Red 40 (7)

Dec 11, 2008

I found out over the Thanksgiving weekend that my sister's 4-year-old son has adverse reactions to Red Dye #40. It makes him crazy. I'd never heard of that before and was a little skeptical. But sure enough, one night he was acting crazy, and we determined that he had eaten a good amount of red jello. Could be a coincidence. Maybe not.

Wikipedia's entry on this seemingly harmless dye is probably the scariest thing I've ever read. Not only is it linked with hyperactive behavior in children, but it's actually banned in several European countries. The tendency is to think, meh, it's a harmless dye; what could it possibly do to me? But disodium 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo)-2-naphthalene-sulfonate isn't all that harmless. I wonder what other strange chemicals are used in the things we eat and drink on a daily basis? #health

Comments

#1	Jenn B	Dec 11, 2008
	yeah, i've come to know lots of kids who react to it. and it's one of those ingredients that's really not necessary most of the time (if not all) and yet pops up in unexpected places. along with all kinds of other random chemicals. We don't do many packaged food products, but when we do i try my best to make sure to buy stuff that has an ingredient label i understand in it's entirety...just to be on the 'safe side'. but admittedly i'm one of those "suspicious of what the FDA deems safe" type (crazy) people...so...my opinion should be filtered accordingly.

#2	Dana	Dec 11, 2008
	To be honest, I didn't believe it either when other people suggested it - then we started watching him when he had it. More than hyperactive, it makes him down-right belligerent. He's 4, so he has a healthy dose of "personality quirks" he comes by naturally for his age - I don't need help from weird substances in food, thank you very much! Sheesh!

#3	Dave	Dec 12, 2008
	Does being belligerent include bossing people around? Because that's all he did with me. "You can play with this toy, in this way, over there." I don't like being bossed around by a two-foot-tall human.

#4	Mom	Dec 12, 2008
	Just so you know...Dana was quite "bossy" when she was a little girl, but I attributed that to her being the oldest child. The whole red dye thing wasn't even mentioned back then. And I told John that he was bossy the other day, and he giggled.

#5	Dana	Dec 13, 2008
	Apparently he comes by the bossyness naturally - can't blame it on anything but genes! As with most traits in kids (and adults, really), given the right combination of parenting and prayer, I think the bossyness could be a virtue someday. I bet most of our presidents were called "bossy" by their uncles, too :-)!

#6	Mary Jane	Dec 14, 2008
	I've see the effects of eating certain things with my first graders through the years. Our school district has banned certain candies and red juices and things like that, too. I have had three ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) kids in my 11 years, and I began to wonder whether it was caused by eating too much sugar, red dye, etc. Learning a lot about ODD made me believe that it really is a chemical imbalance coupled with behavioral issues, but I wonder if red dye and other additives are also affecting them. They are quite difficult in the classroom, as you can imagine. I agree that it's tough to be "bossed around" by a little three-foot person (I know I'm only 5'2", but still!) Interesting discussion.

#7	Rich	Dec 15, 2008
	I couldn't help but notice naphthalene in there. Isn't that the chief ingredient in moth balls? I understand that it can probably be shown to be harmless based on how it breaks down in the body, but still... I'm just picturing some chemist working on new food colorings saying to himself, "You know what would make this red really pop? Moth Balls! Yeah, for the kids!"