The foods listed below are only suggestions of what is available without red dye 40. There are many more available, but for those who are just starting to eliminate this dye and feeling overwhelmed with searching for the right foods, a list such as this broken down into each category might help you to find what is available. Because red dye 40 is found in almost everything, it is important to read ingredient labels for anything new that you are adding.
This list will be updated periodically.
*Check out the Red Dye Free Store for more products without artificial dyes. If you don't buy anything at the store at least you can see different alternatives for dye-free products.
Foods Without Red Dye 40
Please read all ingredient labels - information posted here is not guaranteed to stay the same.
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Bakery: Duncan Hines- Moist Deluxe
Classic White Cake (Premium Cake Mix)
Chocolate Chip Cookies from Publix
Bakery
Frosting: Make your own (Betty Crocker has some good recipes for Butter Cream Frosting).
Fruit Snacks:
Dare Real Fruit Snacks Minis -Wild Kingdom
Gerber Graduate Fruit Snacks
Funky Monkey Fruit Snacks (Amazon.com ships), Sharkie (Target sells these. See photo below) Beware of the fruit snacks that are labeled made with natural colors because these could possibly have carmine (derived from the cochineal bug). Carmine, at this
time, does not have to be listed on the label separately. Popsicles: Edy's Fruit Bars, Popsicle Scribblers, Original Popsicle Orange, Cherry, Grape (no Artificial colors and Flavors!)
Cereals - Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, Rice Krispies, Raisin Brand, Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats Little Bites Chocolate, Kellogg's Corn Pops/General Mills Cookie Crisp
General Mills- Fiber One/ Frosted Shredded Wheat/ Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
Total Cinnamon Crunch
Cocoa Crunchies (generic Publix)
Cocoa Puffs - Just took the artificial color back out.
Organic Cereal and Poptarts found in Publix - Barbara's Bakery - Organic Wild Puffs (Crunchy Cocoa) Nature's Path Organic Frosted Pastries - Cherry Pomegranate (My Kid's love this one to my surprise!) It comes in Blueberry and Strawberry also.
Juice- Caprisun, Mott's 100% Apple juice, Tropicana Orange Juice
(check ingredients for all others - they put artificial dyes in many fruit juices!)
Snacks- Quaker Chewy Granola Bars (Chocolate Chunk, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Flavors) Rice Cakes, Popcorn by Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn- Organic, Smart Pop!,
Tortilla Chips by Tostitos, Publix White Corn Tortilla Chips (Be careful with the Tortilla chips some variations have dyes in them), Frito Lays-Fritos, Oreo Cookies, Cheetos, Pringles- the original, Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip, Newtons Fruit Crisps, Sun Chips Garden Salsa
Crackers - Nabisco Honey Maid Cinnamon/ Keebler: Crackers Original, Saltine Crackers/ Ritz Crackers, Triscuit Crackers, Sunshine- Cheez-It
Candy- Some of these can be ordered online or found in local stores
(It also can be found in Toys R Us) Toys R Us has a new Organic candy and snack section, Mentos candy mint flavor and fruit flavor have no artificial colors
Fruit- Some canned fruits and some fruit cups have red dye added. Publix Peaches or Dole Peaches are usually a safe bet.
Dairy - Check each ice cream ingredient list
Breyer's Cookie Dough, Fudge Brownie, Vanilla
Sauces- Barbecue Sauce: Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue Sauce
Spreads- Peanut Butter / Ferrero Nutello (Hazelnut Spread)
Syrups- Some chocolate syrups have red dye 40 added (please read labels)
Fish- Salmon can have red dye added to their feed so that they have a nice red color. Check for salmon that are deep ocean catch as opposed to farm-fed. Ask your butcher about the Salmon that you wish to purchase. Tilapia is a good choice and is inexpensive.
Condiments- Pickles Claussen Kosher Dill
Medicines- Tylenol Cherry Dye-free, Children's Tylenol Plus Cold & Cough Dye-Free, Motrin Dye-free, Children's Zyrtec Allergy Grape Syrup, Children's Benedryl Dye-Free
Toothpaste- Check your toothpaste ingredients (Crest Tartar Control Whitening plus Scope cool peppermint liquid gel has no red dye) Tom's Natural Care of Maine fluoride toothpaste - they have children's toothpaste as well (Found in Publix), Therabreath
Mouthwash - Therabreath (Look for clear color)
Soaps - Aveeno, Kiss My Face Obsessively Natural Kids Bubble Wash (comes in hand soaps, hair wash, and body)
Prescription Medicines - Ask Pharmacists for alternative to Red dye - Some Pharmacy's might have dye-free options while other's don't offer it *check with your pharmacy and change if needed. For example, CVS didn't carry a dye-free medication that we needed, but Publix was able to order the one we needed.
Dental work - Ask Dentist for Fluoride treatment or cleaning without red dye or artificial colors.
Are artificial food colors to dye for? EN sheds light on a colorful topic.(Ask EN)(Report): An article from: Environmental Nutrition
Always astounded where those dyes sneak in. Many friends/relatives consider themselves so "clean", but seeing their cupboards, I know otherwise. A family I know is going off on an extended trip to Europe this summer. Knowing the children's behavior patterns (sweet, but unreachable sometimes), I called them before they left to let them know about our family's story with artificial dyes/preservatives/flavors (night and day improvement without them). I told them they should pay attention to any difference in their children's behavior as sort of a very easy experiment: many of these artificial products are not used or banned where they are going. When they get back to the US, note any change in the children (AND the adults, eh?!)
ReplyDeleteIt does tend to sneak in. I never expected that red dye would be used in meats to make it more attractive to buyers. I really need to research the meats that we buy to make sure (if that is possible) that it does not contain those dyes. Otherwise, we might go vegetarian! Thanks for your comment!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great list of products! We really do need to read every label. I just found out that Lipton Sweetened Iced Tea with Lemon has Red 40 in it. It's the last ingredient on the label. I would have never thought it!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI just want to add that the effects of red 40 can also occur to adults as well. My husband has an intolerance to it, and if he eats too much of it (sometimes it sneaks in and once in a while it doesn't hurt him), he ends up with SEVERE abdominal cramping and pain. It'll go on for a day or two, depending on how much he's had with it. We constantly find new things that we didn't think had it--white frosting?? Now we will be even more diligent about reading ALL labels, not just things that are obviously red in color.
i have an intolerance to red dye. I know when I have eaten anything with it as I get heart palpitations. The most surprising was mashed potatoes from Kentucky Fried Chicken. 15 minutes after eating some the palpitations started. I went down a list of what else I had eaten, thinking the gravy, but looking online to their ingredients used, it was red dye.
DeleteI get migraines if I eat red 40 dye. It's aweful! Down for three days at least. I am 50 yrs old. Just figured this out last year. Yes, it is surprising to learn of all the things that have the dye in them. Frustrating also.
DeleteRed Dye #40 will cause my Daughter to become a different child! She get so emotional and breaks out in tiny red spots and also gets a stomach ache she cannot sit still and cannot concentrate. Sometimes this will last for a few days to a week after getting Red #40. My son is now off all artifical dyes Blue 1 really causes him to be hyper. It is a very hard thing to do keeping all dyes away from your children but it is so worth it and at only 5 he knows they make him feel bad and will go with an alternative choice ( I have to bring snacks and juce with me to party's and other events)
ReplyDeleteJust found this place. They have the Pure Fun Organic Candy Fruit Pinwheels for just 99 cents!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the limit is but I just ordered a case of 6.
http://www.wholeandnatural.com/servlet/the-285/Pure-Fun-Organic-Candy/Detail
Thank you for your comments. Kids are back in school now and just moved into a new home! I am glad you all found this site. I hope that it offers you something new. :)
ReplyDeleteWow its amazing that red 40 would have such a bad effect in kids. About a year a go my son was having these really bad tempers. He threw a sippie cup at my face and almost broke my noise, because he wanted something to drink right then and there. I took him to the doctors and told the doctor what was going on. The doctor want me to put him on meds i said there's got to be something wrong with him. So i called these people called sunny days up. They came out to the house and watched my son have tempers and hurt himself. I did not know what to do, then i remember i had a family member who was just like my son. His mother took the red dye out of his diet. So i stop giving him anything that had red dye in it. It's been a year since i took it out, and wow what a difference i see in my little boy.
ReplyDeleteI know what your talking about my son would literally bounced off the walls and wouldnt listen to anything or anyone and screamed all the time, I had a friend tell me about the red 40 and her son, she told me to start looking for it and try everything I could to take it out of the things he eats. I have done exactly that and have seen a big difference in him for the better. We now look at all labele befor we buy anything. Its just hard sometimes cuz there is so much food out there that have dyes in them. It dont effect my other 2 children just my youngest.
DeleteThank you for taking the time to post your findings. I have been searching for a site to help me and my family make chages for our 8 yr old son. We notice an immediate change in his behavior when he has red 40, agressive and not pleasant to be around. I found out about this dye reaction while I was taking a psychology course and thought of my son as soon as I heard the symptoms and have been researching it since. Your site has been the most helpful so far, Thank You
ReplyDeleteTHanks for your site. I am not really sure which one she is allergic to yet. I think red and yellow. We tried to eliminate red 40 for 3 days only to find that her strawberry toothpaste has red 40 !! Here I am thiking I am doing a good job and she is brushing her teeth with it every night !! Its so hard. Not sure what to do about the school lunch thing. Any suggestions on that one?
ReplyDeleteI noticed the behavioral changes in my son with red dye #40 over 15 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI could always tell when he had ingested something with the dye he would have so much energy he would literally spin circles. His behavior would transform within minutes. He would get argumentative and be plain mean.
I took him to a allergy doctor in Provo, UT once a month for 2 years (I live in Boise, ID) for shots to desenitize him to the drastic effects in addition to removing it from his diet.
It is real easy to tell if a dye is causing the behavioral change. My family doctor was amazed when I showed him the change in my son doing this. If you get the food coloring 4 pack in the baking aisle an put one drop of the red under the childs tongue and the behavior changes (i.e.-excessive energy, aggressive behavior) the child has a sensitivity to the dye. My son would develop dark circles under his eyes also. To neutralize the reaction, give the child a glass water with sodium bicarbonate (Alka-Selzer Gold contains no asprin) and in 5 minutes the child will calm back down. My son is now 25 years old and he still tries to avoid the Red Dye, not because his Mom says to, because it causes him indigestion.
My daughter had a sensitivity to the Yellow dye and her reation was a 180 difference to my son. She would get lathargic. She would get the dark circles more pronounced under her eyes and the Alka-Selzer would work for her also. I didn't go anywhere with out some in my purse.
It is virtially impossible to have a kid avoid the dye completely because it is in so many items.(Pizza Hut sauce) Over the years we became avid readers of the ingredients in everything and avoided the dyes. When eating out you have no control over the ingredients, the Alka-Selzer can be a god send.
Pat Luttrell idbee@aol.com
alka selzer??? I have never heard this but that sounds like an awesome antidote!! My son is 6yrs old and we have been dye free for almost a year and i can def tell when someone gives him something w/dye in it. He gets very out of control, argumentive, picks on his brother someting terrible, wont listen to anyone about anything. Before we tried the dye free thing i was at my wits ends trying to figure out what i was doing wrong w/him. It turns out it was all in the food i gave him. His fave drink was gatorade, loved the Lightening Mcqueen fruit snacks, Diego yogurt... those things are loaded w/dye!!! ANd he's having more than one of those in one day, no wonder he was out of control! I have learned alot! We saw a difference in 3 days when we went dye free. He still has a bad day here and there but he is a 6yr old boy afterall! LOl.
DeleteGood job on going dye-free! Once you see the difference in your child who is sensitive to it, you will never want to eat that stuff again! Please check out the other posts here on this blog and the table of contents for other questions that you may have on how to eliminate artificial colors. I wish you the best! :)
Deleteactivia yogurt is now putting carmine dye in strawberry and blueberry yogurt, what a shame, i started a petion with change. org, please sign and lets get this stuff out. we dont need pretty we need real, cathy,blusun46391@yahoo.com
DeleteAlthough it is not listed by the FDA as artificial color but a natural color....Carmine is derived from an insect. Some people are highly allergic to Carmine. It definately has an "ick" factor to it! I don't think anyone wants to eat food colored with bugs! I'll look for your petition to sign! Thanks!!!
DeleteI hsve to thank you for reccomending the Alka Seltzer Gold. We could not find it in our area but found another similar product called Picot. It is a spanish label. We are a red dye free family, but occasionly my son gets s hold of some and our lives become misearble for 7-10 days. We have now had to use the sodium bicarbonate twice in emergency situations, and my goodness, I am forever grateful for this. Thank you so very much again and again and again!
DeleteHow do you get a 6 year old picky little eater (boy) to drink alka seltzer??
ReplyDeletein his favorite soda. he'll never know.
DeleteSodas have caramel color and sodium benzoate..do these not have an effect on your childs behavior as well? Caramel color is derived from petroleum just like the other food dyes..
DeleteReally, My Son went from having HORN'S on his head to a HALO in 24hrs by taking RED 40 out of his diet. Unbelievable change in my Son
ReplyDeleteThanks for your info. My 3 year old has been having terrible headaches for over a year now... after testing for everything else, I'm using my momsense and going to start going red #40 free... .I hope it does the trick!
ReplyDeleteThe Nutella has vanillin in it, I thought I read somewhere that vanillin has red dye in it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information!! My sweet, sweet 3 year old suddenly started having these terrible screaming, kicking, and aggressive behavior episodes out of nowhere, and come to find out, my husband had started giving him some of the Hawaiian Punch that was left over from a punch just to use it up. We had 5 days of this behavior, and now that we are aware of the red dye, I have my sweet child back again.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. I am happy that you were able to find the information you need to help your three year old. :) It's important to get this information out so that more children do not suffer needlessly.
ReplyDeleteI just figured out that my son can't have this stuff. I gave him a generic motrin with bubble gum flavor after he had a stuffy nose and he did not sleep all night. He was bouncing off the walls for hours. He is currently on ADHD medication but I am going to try to remove this from his diet and see what it does for his focus.
ReplyDeleteI have just now found out about this and it's knocked me on my butt!! I have just solved the problem in my home with my 5 and 2 yr old!! I am 100% sure it is red #40 and some kind of blue dye....whatever is in the children's advil liquid. My little girl also has this strange reaction to cabbage that I cannot figure out. I have quit asking the DR, they don't seem to care much about my concerns, they just want to put them on meds. I don't think so!! I will solve this problem.Thank you so much for this site. Bless you!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter (2 1/2) had a really bad allergic reaction to red dye that was in Amoxicillin and Benadryl. It took some time to figure that out because you think you are helping but really making things worse. They do not need to add these harmful ingredients into the medication but still do. I would recommend to anyone to just avoid dyes all together as they can cause eczema as well. Thanks for the site, the information is very helpful!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/pages/I-keep-my-kid-away-from-Red-Dye-40-Do-you/115071498508734
ReplyDeletesomeone please tell e if strawberries and pizza will cause the red dye reaction??!!
ReplyDeletei am in 7th grade and i am doing a power point on red 40. any important or very uknown tips?? plz
ReplyDeleteone bite of pink cotton candy gave my 2 year old daughter instant blisters on her lip inside her mouth, hives on her chin and face, runny eyes and pain! If she holds a red crayon it will leave hives and near blisters where it touched her skin, hives on her face and watery eyes. Dont worry we dont give her these things now it is how we discovered it. She was like possessed sweet one day then throwing chairs accross the room. Pissed off mean rage not add. Now she is a sweetie and a different child happier, nicer obviously not under torture of dye physcially harming her. Still daily it amazes us the things we find have dye in them. We love the yummy eath lolly pops and appreciate this site we need to learn more and get this to stop using this crap!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you all found my site. I just want to get the word out to help as many children so that they wouldn't have to waist time going through what we went through.
ReplyDeleteTo the seventh grader: You can find a lot of information in my table of contents. It would be good to first describe what it is. How it can affect behavior or to some people cause an allergic reaction. It would be good to list some studies and the growing concern among parents. This would be a good persuasive paper or a very informative paper. I wish you the best in your studies!
I am inspired to know that the truth is now being spread about the harmful effects of dyes and chemicals in our children's foods- and most sinister is that it is marketed to them as being "fun", when in reality it is poison- my daughter of 4 has now transformed into a patient, loving, beautiful child since we've removed red #40 (as well as all other dyes), from her diet. I am in the process of forming a movement within my community, that will hopefully spread across the country, so that we as parents and adults can force the FDA to not only truly test the effects these dyes & preservatives have on children- but to Enforce a LAW that requires companies to List a warning on their pretty little packages: Red #40, Aluminum Lake, yellow #5, Fumeric Acid, BHA,BHT, ..,the list goes on and on.
ReplyDeleteThe FDA will never ban these dyes. They are in bed with Monsanto as well as Big Pharma to make American sick. They make billions on the drugs that people buy to make their kids "better" when in reality its the plan to keep everyone sick and to keep buying Big Pharma's treatments. Even in you do a red 40 free diet..the government is still making us sick by giving us fluoride in our drinking water...
DeleteOMG, I just said the same thing the other day about the FDA being in bed with Big Pharma!
DeleteI couldn't agree with you more! I felt so compelled to do something after I found the cause of my child's most turbulent behavior was caused by red dye #40 (the worst one). After removing all artificial dyes our child is the complete opposite! He has been free of all artificial dyes for three years now and I continue to spread the word to others. I feel so bad for those children who are suffering from bad self-esteem, depression, and fits of anger due to these artificial dyes. I wish you all the best and I hope that together we can make a huge difference.
ReplyDeleteMy four year old son has been having hives for a year.We have been in and out of the allergist about his out breaks. Every food allergy test(skin and blood work)comes up negative.I've been keeping a food journal. The only thing that seems to keep coming up is foods with Red dye. He has never been tested for Red dye. I talked to the allergist(who will test him next month)but he doesn't think this could be the answer. He feels that reports linking hives to Red 40 and other dyes are overrated. He has not had emotional issues like the other posts, but has had stomach aches,and hives. Has anyone heard of hives being connected to Red dye or other coloring?
ReplyDeleteI have had hives on my neck & throat since taking a multivitamin with Red #40. I figured it out when I forgot to take it one day & the hives subsided a bit, then I took it the next day & they returned. Can't believe I have been torturing myself for the past month or 2 with this vitamin, thinking I had some sort of heat rash or eczema due to the cold weather but since it was just at my neck & throat, it makes perfect sense that is where the red coating would come off the vitamin as it slides down my throat. So the doctor thinks hives linked to Red 40 are overrated? He wouldn't if it happened to HIM! I didn't even go to the doctor since I knew all they would do is charge me $$ & prescribe some steroid or something & not find out what is causing me to break out. thankfully, I figured it out myself.
DeleteI have read more than a few reports on blogs and forums from parents concerning their child experiencing hives and stomach aches from red dye 40.
ReplyDeleteMy now 20 month old son has a reaction I haven't seen on here yet. I suspected even when I was nursing that he might react to red dye, as when I ate a certain candy he was very restless, but I chalked it up to the fact that this candy had apple juice in it, and we discovered apples upset him. But now that he is older he has discovered Red licorice, and he absolutely LOVES it, but even 1/2 a peice any time after noon and his behaviour is fine, but he is up screaming every hour all night long. I wonder if any one else has noticed that their child actually gravitates to red foods though, because anytime we give him a choice, popsicles, freezies, ju jubes, he always chooses red.
ReplyDeleteI would try to find the foods that he likes that are dyed with natural foods like beet juice, tumeric, etc. The artificial dyes are very unhealthy - derived from petroleum. I wonder if he is building an intolerance to it. Not many people are aware of red dye 40 at an early age in their child because they just haven't heard yet.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed as I research the possibility of my child's behavior issues being related to food dye. Thank you for this website! I just can't get enough.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't believe the difference in my child either! I am so glad that you were able to find out what I did to help your child. :)
ReplyDeleteHi everyone. My child has been diagnosed with ADHD and we are trying to make the best choices for her. Reading what dyes are doing to children frightens me. If I would have only known. We have starting to taking dyes out of our diet as a family and that is how I found this site. I appreciate the grocery items. It is too soon to tell how it is affecting her, who knows if I am even getting all the dyes out. Can we even order pizza? Overwhelmed...
ReplyDeleteHi and welcome to reddyefree! I understand your concern about getting all of the dyes out of your foods. At first you have to read labels. Next, is buying the foods that you know does not have the synthetic dyes. You get used to buying the same foods the kids like, and then you add to that list by checking labels. Check out the table of contents if you are unsure about reading the labels and what to look for. You asked about Pizza - we have had good results with Papa Johns -(but don't eat the yellow peppers (might have Yellow dye), also Dominoes Pizza has worked well for us. If you notice any changes in behavior make a note of what your child ate that day and you will begin to see what to avoid. It really does get easier. We are in Disney World right now and we are being careful about what we eat. It is always easier when you eat your own foods, but research will help to avoid many pitfalls. If you come across any more concerns, I will try my best to help out. Thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteBosco Strawberry Syrup DOES have Red Dye 40 in it. I bought a case of it from Amazon and had to throw it out because it has red dye in it.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting that comment about Bosco Strawberry Syrup. I deleted it from the list of dye-free products. Apparently, Bosco has chosen to do what so many have by using the cheap synthetic artificial colors to make the red color instead of the healthy alternative. It is a shame. Hopefully, Amazon will accept a return on your product. Thanks again for the update on Bosco.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the info! I had already started removing artificial colors from my sons diet and it has made a huge difference! I can't believe all the things I find it in. I am still struggling to find childrens medication especially motrin or tylonol that is dye free.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing what a huge difference it can make for some children by just removing the artificial dyes. Both Motrin and Tylenol make a dye-free medication. You might have to ask the store manager to help you either find it or ask if they can stock it in their store. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm just beginning to investigate this as I've noticed my 3 1/2 year olds behavior worsen after he's had sugar free fruit punch. Is it something that we have to go "all out" on, or will just eliminating the major red dye foods - punch, candies, popsicles - help? We definitely are not an organic family, so going all natural would be a hard step. Also, is the only ingredient to look for "RED 40" or can it be disguised as something else, like artificial coloring, or carmel coloring?
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Red Dye Free! To answer the last question, you wouldn't have to go the organic route to stay away from artificial dyes. You can find alternatives for the foods that you are already eating. For example, we stay away from Fruit Loops but choose the Cocoa Puffs because it doesn't have artificial colors. Reading the labels becomes easier as you become accustomed to buying the foods that you know you can eat. Please see the table of contents section of this blog - Artificial colors - What does that Include? I hope you find all of the information you need to make informed decisions about your families diet. Staying away from all artificial colors, for our family, has made us all feel healthier. For example, Just picking out the red colored goldfish crackers and eating the rest proved a disaster and the behavior changes occurred -perhaps not as intense, but in variations. You will find what works for your family. :)
ReplyDeleteMy 6 year old son started complaining about stomach pains about a year ago. At first, I thought he just kept getting a virus. After several occurrences, I started thinking it had to be something else. I also noticed dark circles under his eyes and he seemed to lose his appetite. He had only had 3 or four breakouts with hives so I thought the hives were unrelated. At his annual physical, I was not shocked to see his weight percentile was declining. The doctor was not worried, but I was. I knew something was wrong and I trusted my mommy instincts, even when many people thought he was faking. The stomach pains became more consistent and I knew I had to figure it out on my own. I stared asking him several times a day how his stomach felt and was sad to hear it hurt at least some every day, some days much worse. Then, he started getting headaches too. I was trying to eliminate one food group at a time. I knew red 40 was a possibility because I was allergic as a child ( I just got hives) and my niece was terribly allergic. Unfortunately, I never thought it would cause stomach aches and ruled it out. But, one day it all came together when I realized the Hershey's Lite syrup I was putting in his chocolate milk every morning had red 40! He also got Nutri Grain strawberry cereal bars almost every day which also had red 40. I read the labels of every food he ate and eliminated the dye, and it took about a week and he has not had stomach pains since then. I tested my theory one night by giving him candy with red 40. Ten minutes later he had hives and woke up in the middle of the night with a bad stomach ache. He has had trouble focusing in school, but I hope this school year that all changes. I don't know if a doctor would have ever figured this out. I'm not sure but red 40 may not be an allergy but an intolerance so allergy tests may show up negative. I recommend a food journal and diary of how your child feels or behaves to figure out if dyes are your child's problem and READ FOOD LABELS. Thank you for this awesome website where we can share our stories.
ReplyDeleteIt is fortunate for your son that you have trusted your instincts. I am glad that you have found this site helpful. It is true that some people have found artificial dyes, mostly - red dye 40, to cause hives if sensitive to it and many people have found that after ingesting red dye 40, they experience a headache or migraine. If you notice that your son is still experiencing headaches, it is possible that he gets migraines. My husband is a neurologist and our children suffer from migraine headaches - passed down genetically from us. In children, migraine headaches usually present themselves in children first as a stomach ache and often will not have a headache. After some time the child will experience the full on migraine. However, certain foods can trigger migraines, and you were wise to keep a food journal so that you could help him stay away from those foods and dyes that might trigger his migraines. I hope that he does not continue to suffer from headaches, but if he does keep doing what you are doing. It is important for our children to tell us when their headache is starting because if we treat them during the onset of the migraine, they will not experience the full blown migraine which brings tears to their eyes. I am glad to hear that your son is doing much better!!! I hope it stays that way. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments! He has been off red dye 40 for about a month now with drastic improvement. He has only had small stomach aches 1 or 2 days this month. That same day as the stomach ache, he said his head was "trying to hurt". He has not had any other headaches so far. So, I think they are related and I am heading in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you something else that happened a week ago. He got one of those arm/athletic type wrist bands from chuck e cheese and wore it for 2 days. It was bright blue (so he could have a blue sensitivity too or blue could have red in it). He even wore it one night. After the first day, he complained his arm was itching. I didn't think anything about it and told him to switch it to the other arm. After 2 days, I noticed red bumps ALL over his wrists exactly where the arm band was. I washed his arm and hoped it would get better. The next afternoon he played outside when it was hot. He came inside and his face was all broken out just like his arm. I panicked and thought, what did I feed him?? I have decided it was the arm band. I have no medical degree, but I'm just using some common sense....
You're welcome. You know, it is true that chemicals can get absorbed through the skin. Now we use soaps without dyes, we avoid child tatoos, and even use dye-free toothpastes. In the case of hives, we keep dye-free benedryl on hand. When our son got hives at the beach, for example, we used it to diminish his allergy to seaweed. Check with your doctor about the dosage if you decide to use it. Remember, it will make him a bit sleepy, but at least for us he felt relief and helped to clear up the hives. It sounds like your son is very sensitive to the dyes. Great job discovering that! Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for sharing. I am a 38 year old female and just found out about a year ago that my migraine headaches with nausea and palpitations are due to a red dye allergy. As an adult, I want to make more adults aware of the effects of red dye on them. When I have a migraine from red dye, i suffer for at least 24 hours. Nothing helps the headache. It just gets worst by the minute and so does the nausea and heart racing. All I can do is lie down, flush my system, and take something to help the nausea. Ususally I'm better in 24 hours unless I have consumed far too much or not flush my system fast enough. Red dye is in too many foods and products. I have to read everything prior to putting it in my mouth and I usually stick with items that I am familiar with. I hate it so much that kids have to go through this. Please spread the word to adults that suffer from migraines....It may just be a red dye allergy.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Thank you for your comment and sharing your experience. Perhaps many others are suffering like you did. Take care!
ReplyDeleteI believe my 6yr old son may also have a reaction to the dyes especially the red. We have limited red dyes since we first heard of the issue with our friends child a year ago and their experience with going all natural, it has show a difference in our sons behavior as well. But like many families it still sneaks into the diet at school, daycare, when we go out to eat or go over to a fiends house. Other than the Alka-selter idea posted - does anyone know of anything eles that could off-set the effects safety and quickly? Also does anyone know of a great tasting natural kids vitamin? Thank you in advance.
ReplyDeleteThis site is fabulous! We have just been introduced to this problem as we have become concerned with our child's behaviour and inability to stay focused at home, in school and at practice. All very helpful.
ReplyDeleteAs for the natural vitamin, I have a friend that mentioned that Trader Joe's carries a natural children's vitamin that does not have red 40. I have another friend that mentioned using a tincture and mixing it with juice or the like.
Thank you for your comments! I am very glad that you found this site useful. Did you check out the Red Dye Free Store listed on this site. I have many vitamins that you can choose from that do not have artificial colors. :) It's also a good resource to find some alternative food items. I hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteWhy are there vitamins in the red dye free store that have both Red 40 and Red 3???
ReplyDeleteThank you for your inquiry. Could you please tell me which vitamins contain red 40 and red 3? I went through all of the vitamins and only found natural food colors in the ingredient listings. If there has been a product change, please let me know and I will immediately remove the vitamins from the store. Thank you greatly.
ReplyDeleteMy son has been struggling for a year with major abdominal pains to the point where he buckles over and screams for hours. This is always after he eats food. It has been hard for me to determine the problem as we thought it was a GI issue. He has had every test done at the hospital checking for disease or other issues that may be causing the pain. No one ever told me the pain could be caused from an allergic reaction. He does not break out in hives but screams in pain, says he is dizzy, and these episodes can last for a few days at a time. I did take him to an allergy doctor where he tested positive for lots of foods and environmental allergy, however red dye was not one of them. I thought before he had a problem with red dye but then on his good days he would have something with red dye in it and be fine. Last night I made a"no bake-cherry cheesecake" and one bite and he had a reaction. Screaming in pain, constant regurgitation, and is still ill now. I can't help but wonder if this is the issue and will be taking it out all together. Has anyone had or heard anyone having regurgitation issues with an allergy like this?
ReplyDeleteI sure hope your son finds some relief soon. It seems that you might be on to something. You probably already do this - keep a journal of the foods that he eats and when he experiences discomfort. You probably have a mental note of that as well. JoyM had a comment that was similar. She thought that the red dye 40 might be the cause of her son's stomach discomfort as well. She said that he experiences far less stomach pain than before after removing red dye 40. It would be good to hear from JoyM again to find out how her son is doing as well. I sure hope your son feels better soon. Please keep us updated - perhaps others have similar experiences.
ReplyDeleteMy 3 year old breaks out into a nasty rash (sometimes hives) all over her hands and up her arms when she has red dye. It has been tricky to figure out what really doesn't have red dye in it since it isn't always listed! How frustrating!
ReplyDeleteI noticed on your list you say not to get the multi-color pepperidge farm goldfish crackers, but they have now changed it to using natural colors for the multi-color ones! I am so excited about this!
Kate, Thank you for your comment! It must be frustrating for you when your daughter breaks out in hives since you are doing your best to keep it out of her diet. :(
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to hear about the multicolor pepperidge farm goldfish crackers! I love updating my list when companies switch to better healthier products! I have a few more to add as well! Some Nestle push-up pops have natural colors, but some of theirs still have synthetic dyes. I am happy to see the transition! Thanks again.
I would like to give this a try. Do you have a page set up with a core list of foods that are dye free or examples of a menue of a typical 8 yr old. Thank you
ReplyDeleteI am trying desperately to feel encouraged. My daughter is almost 7 years old. She's been a strong personality from the get go, so that's really all I've ever attributed it to be. After getting called in to see the teacher one day, and having to listen to the way my child was described, I realized there was a problem, and it wasn't going away. The teacher asked me what I was feeding her, and it made me stop and think about all the garbage she eats. See, she's generally a picky eater and only likes things that are preserved in cans or boxes. We are hard pressed to get her to eat any vegetables so we've resorted to vitamins to make up for it. If I were to be standing on the outside looking at my life, I would have to describe it as this: "This little girl is like 10 children all rolled into one. She is happy and angry practically at the same time. You never know what you're going to get on any given day and frankly her mother is at the end of her rope. She has tried to think of everything, and nothing seems to work for this child. She is exhausted from working the night shift to help pay the bills, and mentally and emotionally exhausted at home due to the stress of this child. She is bouncing off the walls all day long, and when she's not she's so angry it feels like the world is going to end. The screaming and yelling that goes on in that house is unbearable, yet somehow they all manage to sneak through and go on with each day. This child repeats all of her mistakes on a daily basis, and not from lack of trying to teach her useful problem solving behaviour. This mother had truly lost herself amidst the chaos that has taken over her life. This family is practically in ruins, disaster feels imenent!"
ReplyDeleteThat, in a small nutshell, is my life. If eliminating this dye from her food will take all of this away, I have never been so gung ho for anything ever. I will tackle this with the luster I would if I could go back to high school. I can only hope that this will be my Christmas miracle! Happy Holidays One And All!
Sorry about the slow responses to the last two comments.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous who wrote on Nov. 14: I don't have a menu and because there are so many food choices and different likes/dislikes, I want to keep this simple and really just show that there are alternatives out there and if there are not for the particular food you love than I hope that we can put pressure on the food and drug companies to change to healthier options.
To Anonymous on Dec. 15. Your post brought some tears to my eyes as you described your situation. I really hope this is the miracle that will help your child. For our family it was that miracle and that is why I dedicate my time to share with others....so others will not needlessly suffer. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and everyone!
I am 50 years old. I have never been allergic or sensitive to anything.....until....I noticed about a year ago that I would get a weird feeling when I ate certain foods. It was a scary feeling, like I wasn't in this world. It wasn't bad enough then that I couldn't ignore it until it subsided. Over the years it must have been getting worse, but I kept brushing it off and trying to ignore it. I had no way to connect which foods were causing this. Usually, I was at a restaurant with no ingredients to read. Well, this year, it hit me hard. It started with that same weird feeling after taking some Benadryl. I still, stupidly, did not make any connections. I just thought it was the medicine itself. Six months later, I took 2 Dayquil gel tabs and it hit me again, only this time, I had to go to the ER. I felt like I was going to die! My blood pressure was 177/116 and my heart was beating out of my chest! I was having trouble catching my breath yet my tongue wasn't swollen like you'd expect with an allergic reaction. I was at stroke or heart attack level! They gave me meds to bring my BP down. The doctor told me it was the "cold medicine" in the Dayquil and just not to take it anymore. Skip forward a month. I decide to make a salad. I pour Kraft's Catalina Fat Free dressing on it and start to eat. Within minutes I am getting that unnerving weird feeling. I take my blood pressure with a home wrist BP cuff and my BP was through the roof again! Heart was beating wildly and I was starting to panic. I grabbed the bottle of salad dressing and read the ingredients....then I grabbed the Dayquil box and read the ingredients....then I grabbed the Benadryl and read the ingredients....all contained Red Dye 40! Bingo! I then called a good friend that is VERY smart in holistic medicine and she told me how TOXIC that Red Dye 40 is! She asked me is I had any Milk of Magnesia? I did. She said the Magnesium would help. Well guess what? It was cherry flavored and you guessed it...contained Red Dye 40. I had already taken a spoonful. She asked if I had any Alka Seltzer Gold? I did not. So she instructed me to drink a 1/4 tsp. of Baking Soda in a glass of water. I also took a Magnesium capsule I had on hand. She explained that with the poison Red Dye in my body that my body was "acidic" and I needed to get back "alkaline". It worked and it worked quickly. I still cannot believe what I have ingested all these years and even worse, what I fed to my son! I wonder how many people have had heart attacks or strokes that happen to get the same side effects that I do?!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this site! If it helps even one mom, parent or adult connect the dots and save a life.....hat off to you! We need to get legislation passed to ban these toxins in our food! Keep calling and writing your legislature to sponsor a bill! If this is already banned in Canada and Great Britain...the FDA needs to be held accountable!
I wish they WOULD be held accountable but it seems there isn't enough evidence that this stuff is poison to kids and adults & all that would be done is to have a medicine prescribed to heed off the effects. I recently found out that I get hives from a multivitamin I started taking that has Red Dye #40 in it & have switched back to another that I was using prior. The hives are subsiding but I had been torturing myself for over a month thinking it was something else. I would love for this country to follow the examples of Canada & Great Britian and for "someone" to figure it out & for the FDA to do something byt my theory is that they are in bed with big Pharma & there won't be any changes made to this poisonous dye.
DeleteWell, I wrote a LONG story of how, at 50 years of age, I almost died from ingesting Red Dye 40. It was too long so the site rejected the story, so in a nutshell:
ReplyDeleteMy sensitivity to Red Dye 40 must have built up over the years. I would get a weird feeling sometimes when eating out but was able to ignore it until it subsided. I could never figure out what was causing my scary symptoms. Then I ended up in the ER after taking Dayquil. Blood pressure was 177/116 and climbing. Heart was beating out of my chest and I was having trouble catching my breath. They got my BP down and told me it was the cold medicine. Not to take it anymore. Skip ahead one month. I put Kraft's Catalina FF Dressing on my salad. Same reaction as before! I grabbed both bottles and read the ingredients. The common denominator was Red Dye 40! Poison, toxic and almost lethal in my case! How many adults have had strokes or heart attacks and no one ever connected the dots?!! Thank you for this site and I hope it saves many lives!!
Sorry, It did post the longer version of my story!
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous Dec. 26th,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. That is the second time I read about Alka Seltzer used to take away the toxic affects of red dye 40. I appreciate that you took the time to share what you have gone through and perhaps many others will find your comment helpful. We all need to share more about what we know so that we can all make a difference. Thank you
K&K's Mom
ReplyDeleteSorry if this posted already - My 7 yr old has had problems since she was 15 months old. We are told it is ADHD, Autism, and many other disorders. None of that feels right, but it is so hard to see her try every day to have a good day and then not succeed. She wants so much to not get in trouble at school for her behavior.
I just could not see how any disorder could come and go - that she would have no behavior problems for days, and then be unable to not have them. I started to see a pattern and by reading the labels on her food found that days when she had Tartrazine- the new name to hide Yellow 5- she had guaranteed inability to stay calm, control impulses, and communicate with her huge vocabulary rather than violence. We took that out of her diet and saw a significant improvement. Still problem days, so now we are avoiding all dyes, including Red 40. Here in Canada they don't have to list anything accurately on the labels, so if it says 'color' anywhere in anyway we don't eat it. I am also starting to think there may be some foods as well, but this is harder to isolate. Has anyone heard about a problem with carrots?
Thanks for listening.
Hi K&K's mom,
ReplyDeleteIt is terrible that they can get away with disguising the foods and make it more difficult to eliminate those colors. It bothers me that foods with monosodium glutemate, for example, has many other names to confuse people. I avoid foods that say 'color added' as well. I don't trust that they are natural colors. Has anyone heard about problems with carrots having color added? That to me should be a crime. I have seen packaged vegetables with color added. I NEVER buy them. It is ridiculus to eat foods disguised to be healthy and rich in color. Thank you for your comment and maybe this will open up a conversation about vegetables with added color.
my son had an allergic reaction to red 40 in his birthday cake at his first birthday party...hives, swelling, rd watery eyes and even purplish hands and feet right before the benedryl kicked it. He is now 2 1/2 and we are still battling hives even though I removed red 40 from his diet 1.5 yrs ago. Took him to an allergist last month expressing my concern over all artificial colors and they sent me to a lab for bloodwork. Having blood drawn on my 2 year old was excruciating, only to find out 2 weeks later that there is no blood test for red 40 or any other colors...!!?!?!? Now we are going back for the scratch test. I have found red 40 lurking in the following items...Pillsbury crescent rolls, Duncan Hines yellow cake mix, butter cream frosting, some pancake mixes,Eggo Blueberry waffles. It seems it is used along with yellow dye to make things look more golden. You have to check EVERYTHING!!! I gave him Strawberry Yogurt burst Cherrios after checking the label. THere was no Red 40 listed (just "color added")but he immediately broke out in hives. I have contacted Nabisco to find out exact colors are added to their 100 calories chocolate chip cookie packs (which my son loves but cause blotchiness) and they have given me nothing but grief. They are insisting that there is no red 40 in there but would not tell me what is (which I believe we have a right to know, don't you). I had to get the allergist involved to fill out a confidentiality agreement in order for them to release this info, which I still don't have, 2 weeks later. Do you know the different between red 40 and red 40 lake?
ReplyDeleteI wanted to warn everyone of something I found that has Red 40 in it. I have commented on here before, my daughter (now 4) gets awful hives if she consumes red dye or uses soaps or lotions with red dye in them. We are super careful about what she uses or eats. But on her Birthday the other day I took her to McDonald's to play. While there she wanted a happy meal and a hot fudge sundae. Later that night her hands and arms were broken out in a horrible rash that hurt bad. I went to McDonald's website because I thought just maybe the chicken nuggets had red dye in the coating. But that wasn't the case. It was their hot fudge sauce! All their chocolate sauces (for ice cream or coffee) have red 40 in them. We have also found that the chocolate tootsie pops have red dye in them. Why chocolate flavored things need red dye is beyond me!
ReplyDeleteI wrote a company about the fact that they say "artificial colors" and asked if that could be red dye and they were irritated and said if there was red dye they would list it. Obviously they aren't listing everything though because they aren't listing what artificial colors they are using!
can anyone tell me if the pre-packaged bacon has red dye in it?
ReplyDeleteAlot of companies use Red Dye to make chocolate, or 'chocolate flavored' products appear darker or richer. Unfortunately, we have had the same issue as Kate mentioned above with the Hot Fudge at McDonalds, and other products that do not list Red Dye 40! (We suspect Popsicle Fudge pops do contain it too!)
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I were allergic to what my parents thought was 'Hawaiian Punch' years ago. We'd both get hives and swell up something terrible. Back then they didn't know much what to do other than try to knock us out with Benedryl. However, at that time, it only came in the original red dye 40 loaded version. Then our parents would get ticked because we'd get hyper and aggressive from it! (Can you say 'vicious cycle'?)
Fast forward 30 some-odd years, we discovered our daughter has quite a few allergies. We have been to allergists in 3 states and each has their own ideas as to what constitutes an allergy. Some swear that there is 'no such thing' as a red dye allergy! We beg to differ! We changed doctors immediately. Just because there is no medical test for something - doesn't mean it doesn't exist! It was a wonderful receptionist who quietly suggested we try to exclude Red Dye 40 from our daughters diet. Thank Goodness!
*Everyone* around us - including my daughter who is now almost 5 - knows if she has ingested any Red Dye 40! Her mood, sensitivity, attitude, behavior - EVERYTHING goes haywire! On days she inadvertantly has some, it is truly hell! The meltdowns, tantrums, head/stomach aches and wild mood swings are intense. Our pets hide from her! Honestly, sometimes we wish we could too!
We obviously do whatever we can to avoid allowing her to have any -EVER! Of course it would really help if manufacturers would be honest with what *stuff* they are adding all in the interest of their bottom line.
Yesterday, she turned to me and asked me if *I* had any Red Dye 40. I said "I don't think so honey, but I'm not allergic to it so it's okay." She asked me if I "was sure...because (I've) had a headache for three days and (I've) been really grouchy!" Now I'm beginning to wonder...I had Dominoes Pizza twice in the last few days.
Yvonne in North Carolina, USA
Thank you for sharing all of your comments during the last few days. I stay away from anything labled artificial colors added, because I have never had a good experience with the unknown. Artificial colors are not a good enough description and often are petroleum based synthetic colors that we stay away from.
ReplyDeleteYvonne, your daughter's comment was so cute! You know if your daughter has a sensitivity toward red dye 40, my experience has been that other family members are also sensitive towards it. It's not just a child sensitivity issue- adults can experience the same bad moods from these artificial dyes. I noticed a change in my attitude after eating artificial dyes and recently after Dominoes pizza before we found out it had artificial colors in the new seasoned crust. It is healthier to stay away from these dyes any how. :)
I am so thankful I found this site....thank you so much! I have a question that maybe I overlooked the answer to...Is Caramel coloring bad also? Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post! Caramel coloring can be harmful (if what I read was true and accurate), but just how harmful is a mystery to me. I read that it can be processed in different ways, but I would need to research it much further. Thank you and you are welcome to post what you learned about that as well. :)
ReplyDeleteI am a 33 year old woman who has been breaking out into unexplained hives or some sort of rash for over 2 years. I hadnt related it to any allergy because i have never been allergic to anything before. Just this week, I began to research this whole red dye issue, and I have tried to eliminate it from my diet.. tonight the rash is back and it is very bad, i went out to eat last night and ate crab meat, didnt think it would be an issue... and today i had a subway meatball sub. After reading through the posts on this page i think it's pretty safe to assume that both had red dye, and that is why i am suffering so bad today.. the itching is REALLY intolorable. I have also suffered from depression for nearly half my life and am now wondering if it is related to this allergy. Thank you all for the information given on this page, as now i will be shopping VERY differently.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteHave you ever gone to a doctor about your hives? If you are still itching, has your doctor told you to take some benedryl for some immediate relief? Eating out is always a bit tricky when it comes to staying away from artificial dyes. However, it is possible if you stick to the foods and drinks that you absolutely know do not effect you. Keep a food journal if you don't already. I am sorry to hear that you are suffering from depression as well. I hope your diet change helps with too. I don't usually recommend books, but Thich Nhat Hanh has a wonderful book, You Are Here. Some ideas in his book might be very useful regarding how he looks at depression and gives mindful ideas how to manage it. Thank you for your comment. I am sure that it will help others.
Thank you Mom4Change. I found your site months ago and I began to experiment. I discovered what so many of you discovered. The red dye was triggering my son to react violently, aggressively, and impulsively. Stomping his feet, throwing things, yelling, and crying fits were some of his reactions 10-20 minutes after ingesting something with the dyes.
ReplyDeleteHe was three when I noticed. I thought it was his development--normal for his age. He is very articulate though and he kept telling me, "My body told me to do those bad things. I tried to stop myself but I can't." When we talked about his behavior he seemed so remorseful and frustrated. That got my attention and I really looked for ways to help him. I know my son well and I trusted that he felt like it was beyond his control. Thinking back through the items he ate on those days helped me to recognize the red foods/snacks as triggers. This site supported my suspicion/diagnosis. We are eliminating as many dyes as we can. There are those times when a play date parent, grandparents or the school will miss things. Educating our friends and our communities is crucial. I am so grateful for Mom4Change for sharing her experience and giving me the information I needed to get my sweet little boy back. Now, I sharing this information with my daughter whose nausea and migraines were thought to be caused by caffeine, mostly chocolate and soda.
Thank you so much for this list! I just discovered the Red 40 connection to hyper kids and my son has been off of it for only 48 hours and there is already an amazing difference.
ReplyDeleteHi I would love your input on this...i have eliminated all dyes and caramel coloring from my children's diet. I was wondering if you think BHT and TBHQ could also be linked to the things that the dyes are. I read somewhere that they are linked to hyperactivity. Thank You so much for this site!
ReplyDeleteHi and thank you for all of your latest comments. :) I am so glad that you have found the benefits of removing artificial dyes and your children are feeling and doing better! It makes this site worth doing. :) As far as removing BHT and TBHQ, I am not educated on their possible link to hyperactivity, but I try to avoid foods with these ingredients when I can. I haven't noticed behavioral changes in my children with these ingredients, but perhaps some children can be sensitive to them. I would look at the CSPI's website (Center for Science in the Public Interest). I have a link to it on the right side column of this blog. I hope that helps. :)
ReplyDeleteMy daughter reacts to blue and red dyes ...i am still searching for alternatives like mample syrup lolliops are her fav !! and i am trying to find only white freezies i know i can make my own but its nice to have somethings the same with out picking threw the box lol thanks for the list is gets me started :
ReplyDeleteMy son has suffered from eczema since he was about 1 1/2 years old. He is now 6 1/2 but has experienced odd rashes for the last couple years in addition to his eczema. His teacher also thinks he has ADHD. He does get extremely hyper and I have a hard time handling the wild, sometimes mean behavior. About a week ago, he drank orange Hawaiian Punch at a party and his upper lip looked like it was burned it was such a deep reddish brown color. I took him to the doctor and they said he must have rubbed against something. Not thoroughly convinced, but trusting the doctor, I put the cortizone cream on it and it went away. Yesterday, he drank oragne Gatorade and it happened again. Only this time his throat was itching terribly, so I gave him Benadryl that I had on hand. He got extemely drowsy almost immediately from the Benadryl. Now I realize that it must have been the dye, and I gave him more with the Benadryl!! I will be looking for the dye free kind, but why in the world would you put dye in a medication that is supposed to help someone that could have such harmful, even life threatening effects!!!????!!!! Thank you for the information, it will be very helpful. Also, my oldest son has PDD-NOS, and we are going to see how the elimination of dyes helps him out as well!!! Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteI like this blog! I am 26 years old and I am allergic to red dye so badly that when I ingest it I immediately get a migraine, cannot see and stop breathing (anaphylactic reaction. I have reacted this way ever since I was able to eat and drink as a small child. It took many trips to the emergency room and almost not making it to have my mom and the doctor's realize what was the cause. I carry and epipen with me everywhere. I have noticed your list above of things you recommend eating without dyes, it is a great start! It takes me way too long to go grocery shopping these days. I just wanted to add to the foods that you may not think to look at labels that DO have red dye in them(SOME, but NOT ALL): some refrigerated bisquits and pie crusts, G2(gatorade), BBQ sauce, white frosting, cake mixes, Doritos, reeses peanut butter cereal, cookie crunch cereal, immitation crab meat, etc... There is so much I could add, beware of a lot of chocolate, a lot of cookies have red dye in them and a lot of things that are white. It is sad but true. If you ask me, we should do away with it like so many countries in Europe that have banned it!! It's unnecessary to mess with a girls chocolate! lol I hardly eat out anymore....McDonald's lists that all of their shakes have red dye too! Restuarants around here give me the worst attitude when I ask them if they can check, part of the time it is hard for me to trust them anyway. Sonny's BBQ sauce has red dye!! I don't eat there either. I could go on and on, but I will end with saying, even though you or your children have to avoid so much to eat and drink, it is better for them in the long run not to ingest something that is artificial anyway.
ReplyDeleteI am so irritate by the allergist doctor my 4 year old saw. We know she is allergic to red dye because she breaks out into massive hives from her finger tips to her shoulders if she ingests it or even has it touch her (like in soaps or lotions). We had her tested for other food allergies and he said he would check red dye too. It came back as negative for red dye allergy. I asked if it was Red #40 that he tested and he said it was cochineal and carmine that she was tested for and came back negative, but that they are the exact same as #40! Which is so not true. He refused to believe me too. He tried to convince me that it was a gelatin allergy not red dye. I said I have made jello with plain gelatin and juice and she didn't break out into hives, but regular red jello did. Still didn't believe me... So if you plan to test you or your child for a red dye allergy, make sure the doctor tests FD&C Red #40, not carmine and cochineal (which are made from ground up dead bugs).
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this blog!!!!! I have a 7 year old little girl who is VERY active. This last school year I went to the doctor to ask her questions about ADHD. Being a special education teacher I have had a lot of concerns with this the last two years. I explained to the doctor that we have taught our daughter that when she feels the "out of control" behavior coming on then she needs to communicate that to us so we can teach her some coping skills. (But coping skills can only go so far.)The doctor had us and her teacher fill out a questionnaire (Hawthorne). A week later I went back to doctor and she read me the results. She tested borderline with ADHD. Immediately the doctor began to start prescribing medication. I said WAIT!!!! I wanted to know what other alternatives we could do before we went that far. My doctor was AMAZING in suggestion with diet. She told me a lot of times kids with ADHD are really affected by red dyes and yellow dyes. She told me to start slowly avoiding these and watch my daughter's behavior for two weeks. Had to write a journal. HELLLLLLLOOOOOOO!!!!! Amazing results. It has changed her behavior significantly!! We don't have no where near the outburts. So thank you to my doctor for suggesting that. I asked my doctor why she automatically was going to put my daughter on medicine. She said it became such a natural remedy bc soooo many parents just say "what medicine do I need to cure." So ask your doctor!!!! My struggle now is finding foods and understanding all the jargon of chemicals within foods. So thank you to the person who has this site. P.S. My husband was VERY sceptical about this whole red dye thing. (He was mad bc I took spaghetti out of our realm of foods.) So one night I said fine I will make spaghetti but he had to deal with our daughter's behavior. His reaction was like whatever. Within 15 min of eating spaghetti she was OUT OF CONTROL. She couldn't even sit down in a chair to finish her meal. His reaction was WOW! We are now making her aware of how red dye makes her feel internally, just by asking her what it feels like on the inside after she has eaten something with red dye. (Especially when she goes to spend the night with her bestfriend.) We also structure a very physical activity if she has eaten it. Helps release some of the energy. Again thank to the mom who has put this together. Your amazing!!!!!
ReplyDeleteNow that I have posted my long story about my daughter one thing I didn't add was that my daughter used to complain ALL the time about her tummy hurting the majority of the time when she ate. Since we have been conscience of the red and yellow dyes not one time has she complained of a tummy ache.....I never put two and two together. I had gone so far as to getting an ultrasound on her tummy to see if there was GI problems....of course everything came out fine. One day my husband and noticed that she hadn't been complaining of her tummy hurting. Coincidence?! I think not. Bc when she does eat something with these dyes, I hear MY TUMMY HURTS!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I found this site! I first noticed my youngest (of 3) was having a reaction at his 1st birthday party, when his cake had a little bit of red dye around the edges, after he ate a few bites he was screaming (not angry) and shaking his head back and forth like crazy. Since then we have tried to keep it out of his diet, now I'm thinking we are going to try and go dye free (as much as possible) for everyone. Especially with my oldest starting Kindergarten here in a couple weeks. I still can't believe they put it in so much stuff, and for no reason, especially when there are plenty of natural sources for coloring.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for posting your comments! Each time you post your testimonial or concerns, you help other parents to see that these dyes can effect their children and even themselves. I am so happy to hear that so many people are finding this blog helpful. Thank you for making this all worth it! Your children are lucky that you all care so much about their well-being!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your site. I tried to read all of the comments, so I'm sorry if this question has been asked and I missed it. How long does it take to see behavioral changes after ingesting red dye or other dyes? Also, how long do you notice until they go away? Do they last for minutes or days? I know each person is different, but I'd like to hear what others see, so I know what to be on the look out for. My 2 year old was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD. She's seen so many doctors. A blood test showed a small milk, whey and egg allergy (the skin test did not) so I have been experimenting with foods. I noticed a difference when I removed these items, but not enough difference that they could be the cause. After some Sunny D and some fruit snacks, I watched her behavior change so drastically that it led me to this site. I also got to thinking that when I removed regular milk from her diet, I also removed the strawberry powder I was putting in it! I'm definitely going to be experimenting with dyes now to see if they could be triggering these behaviors. Thanks again for this site and for everyone's comments!
ReplyDeleteOh I remember well - the strawberry milk! I know your dilemma when it comes to removing the dyes. You might be surprised to find out that artificial colors are in about everything that can be consumed. Checking the labels for ingredients such as red dye 40 and other colors if you are eliminating all can be tricky. Food manufacturers might say "colors added". These foods could contain red dye 40. Look for ingredients colored natural....with annatto, paprika, tumeric (for example). I have a few posts regarding what to look for ...check out my table of contents section to find out more detail. Alternative can be found for everything, and it gets easier! :) Remember, just eating the red M & M's doesn't mean avoiding red dye. The blues and other colors are sometimes mixed with red. Avoid foods by checking labels, not by just visually checking because you might be shocked to find that your child is still consuming the dyes. For my child and for myself, it takes a day for the effects to wear off. Some people say it takes a few days. I wish you the best!
ReplyDeleteI just wrote my story regarding Red #40. It didn't post but I would like to say I believe that red #40 causes hot flashes to be more frequent and sever in older women. If you are experiencing hot flashes, even if you are "at that age" please consider eliminating red#40 (as well as yellow #5 in my experience). Mine are virtually gone since I connected the dye to my hot flashes.
ReplyDeleteGogurt now makes a brand called "Simply Gogurt" which uses fruit/vegetable sources for it's dye! Yippy.
ReplyDeleteHi very thanks to the person who made this post, this was very informative for me. Great website...and cool article man...thanx for the great post...keep on posting such articles... Resources like the one you mentioned here will be very useful to me! I will post a link to this page on my blog. I am sure my visitors will find that very useful.
ReplyDeleteHello, I just wanted to thank you for the info regarding the dyes, Ihave a seafood allergy,, that consists of it hing eyes hives and some minor breathing problems, the other day I started taking a multivitamin which has several dyes in it. It took me a couple of days to figure it out, I have had a rash for several days now, my eyes have been swollen and itchy, plus I have had a cold for over a week now which I have been taking alka seltzer plus cold medicine which I did not realize WA also helping with the allergy symptoms, so I took one tonite and it seems to be helping alot, thank you again
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment Heather! I'm sure others will find it helpful too!
DeleteOne-A-Day Essentials, a nice-sized, small red multivitamin has Red Dye #40 in it. I was taking the Price Chopper version & it made me break out in a rash on my throat and neck. Took me a month or 2 to make the connection and went back to generic Centrum and will now be more aware of Red #40 in my diet. Didn't think I had an allergy until I was taking this vitamin daily & figured it out when I forgot to take one & the rash subsided, only to reappear the next day when I took it!! I immediately switched to another multivitamin & now the rash is healing. Seriously wonder why this crap is in vitamins, Sudafed, Benadryl or any foods if it causes so many problems with people!
DeleteI have been doing research and am considering putting my 6 year old on a dye-free diet for a trial period. It seems a bit overwhelming at first glance. Is there a way to ease into it or do you need to go total dye-free to notice a change in behavior? How do people handle school lunches? Thanks for all the great info and guidance!
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit overwhelming at first and grocery shopping takes a bit longer at first to check over the ingredient list. I scan the ingredient list and look for red 40, and any other color with a number. I also avoid foods that say "Color added" because it can be Carmine - derived from a bug. I find foods on the same isle without the dyes. For example, instead of Cocoa Crispies, I choose Cocoa Crispies made by Publix. If you are changing his diet because you notice a behavioral change - really try hard to avoid Red Dye 40, but my children also act super sensitive when they eat anything with yellow dye. If you are trying to avoid carcinogens try to remove all dyes to get healthier alternatives. As far as school is concerned, this is what I did for my children. (I cut and pasted this from my post titled, "Can Your School Do This?" I was asked to send in a doctor's note explaining that he is not to have any artificial food colors in his food or drink beverage due to sensitivities towards the dyes. I was then given the lunch menu for each day of the week and instructed to circle which foods he would like to eat. Next, I was given the ingredients for each item for my son's doctor to look over. The food dietitian then made an alternative if needed for each item that our son is not allowed to eat. We didn't need to find alternates in our case because they just avoided the very few items that had the dyes. In our school, they only had to avoid the fruit punch, and the fruit with the cherry on top. Our school had already chosen to avoid artificial colors because so many children had sensitivities to the dyes. I hope this helps and I wish you the best.
DeleteThank you so much for your response. I contacted our school dietian and like your school, she asked me to circle a few "favorite" menu items and she would look up ingredietns, so the school is being helpful. I think we will just have her bring her lunch for the 3-4 week "trial" we are conducting to see if her behavior changes. Thanks again for all of your good work!
Delete:) Glad to help. Good luck with the school lunches!
DeleteI just came across the website listed below. It has the product name, brand, product type, food dyes the product contains and the year the data was collected, latest data collected being 2009-2010, so it's a little old. I hope this helps others as it has helped me.
ReplyDeletehttp://brainfoodselector.iatp.org/
Thanks for sharing!!! I had actually posted that under "Other Helpful Links and Videos" a while back. It can be pretty helpful. :) I also love the fooducate app that you can take to the store or check your pantry items with a scan of the bar code. Has anyone else tried this App?
Deletewhoah this blog is fantastic i love studying your posts. Stay up the good paintings! You know, many people are hunting round for this information, you could help them greatly.
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Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it is really informative. I’m going to watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. Many people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
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I haven't noticed any mood changes, but I get extremely painful acne on my forehead when I ingest or wear red40. Unfortunately it is in cheap makeup and in some lotions to make them look creamy.
ReplyDeleteits not just that the makeup is cheap either because I will break out in this specific type of acne on my forehead even when I wear lipstick that contains it.
It's a good thing that you made the correlation between the cause and effect! Everyone is better off avoiding these dyes. Thanks for your comment. :)
DeleteI am really new to all this but I am glad I found this website. My 6 year old daughter, I believe has an allergy to red dye. For years she has been on a small dose of benadryl, for her night terrors, the easiest way to describe what these are is that they are a form of a sleeping disorder. For the past couple of months we she had been complaining of a stomach ache around bedtime. We give her the benadryl an hour before her bed time. It never crossed my mind until around Valentine's Day when we made cookies,from scratch, along with the frosting, to bring for a treat to school that when we got done frosting the cookies( which we added red food coloring too)that she asked to lick the wisk. I thought "of course it's part of being a kid."within 5 minutes of her eating this she came back in and asked for more, I looked at her and her whole mouth was broken out in a rash, and her tongue had spots on it. I could only think it was the red dye since I have never had a reaction any other time I made her cookies.I used the same recipe I always use I just never use red food coloring. It has turned her world upside down. She is so afraid to eat anything red or pink. I told her she needs to stay away from anything red, orange, pink, and purple unless she can look at the ingredients. I showed her what to look for in case I am not around.She knows to ask any adults if there is red dye. What I am worried about now is what they call "pinked meat" I have just heard of it. We go into her first allergy appointment on the 20th of this month, so we will find out for sure. I will have to say she is adjusting very well to organic snacks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info about the fooducate app. I just downloaded it on my iPod touch. It turns out that I am extremely allergic to Allura 40 (Red Dye 40) and break out in hives & rash. I'm astonished that it is in so many food items. It makes you want to go completely vegan or all organic to try to avoid all of the chemicals the government allows into our foods.
ReplyDeleteCathy, carmine isn't the same as fd&c red 40. Carmine is natural (derived from beetles).Red 40 is derived from coal. Coal has mercury in i and is dangerous and causes health problems.
ReplyDeleteI have a 7 year old daughter with behavior problems, and am interested to see if this could be affecting her. However, we already have a pretty healthy diet. Sugar and dye-free cereal for breakfast, pb and j or cheese for lunch with Capri Sun for lunch, and healthy prepared from scratch dinner with 2 snacks that only about half of them might contain this dye. It is however, in her daily vitamin. Could just the small quantity in her vitamin and an every other day snack make a difference? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYES!!! (I'm not yelling that, but just making it known that a small dose for someone that is highly sensitive to it can make all the difference in the world). I noticed when my child was given something accidentally by a relative that it changed his mood entirely and the visit went terrible. The relative would say, "He couldn't have been effected by that! He only had one piece....." It was frustrating, but now people that I am close to understand that it is important for my children to avoid it. Although, I would imagine that given a higher dose of the dye would produce an increase in negative behavior. You could buy the vitamin without the dyes
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled onto your sight. I am toying with the idea that my son may have some issues with red dye and so I am moving to clean up his diet.
I just spent a fortune on snacks and treats for special outings at Trader Joe's. The biggest problem that we have with him is that he has a hard time concentrating and staying focused. He is well behaved and everybody enjoys him, however, he can be a little too much at times.
His concentration is mostly with school. We know that he can concentrate and focus because when he wants to do something, he can stay on task for quite a while. So I am exploring this idea with the dyes. He is bright and articulate. No diagnosis with the doctors but it seems that he can just be hyper at times. I don't believe he is ADHD because he can focus. I am not a fan of medicating children...so that is a area I am not going to explore and it wouldn't be an option. I'm not judging others...just saying that these are our convictions. I believe that he is an energetic boy...that has bouts of "craziness" for lack of a better word.
I'll give you an example of what he can be like at times. Two days ago we went shopping to get some items for his Colonial Days history project (we homeschool BTW) and he was all over Joann's touching this..touching that...and it's not that he's touching...it's the fact that it appears as if he's "gliding" across the aisles...like he's skating on ice (that's how fast he goes) and he picks up this and starts tossing it...plays swords with another. I have NEVER seen his so...soo....crazy. I could not get him to settle down. That is how our whole day was that day.
Do you know about how long it takes to get all that garbage out of his system? I'm working on dyes red and yellow.
Thanks in advance,
Monica
It sounds like banning artificial dyes will help out a great deal. From what I have learned, people with ADD can focus on what they are motivated to do. The hard part for people with ADD is to do things that are not so enticing. Sitting still is not uncommon for boys, but continuously fidgeting can be an indicator. Self-stimulating behaviors are often seen with those who are diagnosed with ADD....humming, fidgeting...etc. *You might want to consult someone with more knowledge - I'm not a Doctor. Then again boys will be boys and they can be active. Many intelligent people have ADD and the good thing is that they can focus on what they are motivated to do. They are often creative and many are in the gifted classes. :) Knowing your child will only help you to help him. *I'm not saying he has ADD or ADHD.*
DeleteMany children do well without medication and avoiding artificial colors is a good idea for anyone. Hey, sometimes I wish I had all that energy! There is no telling what good things there are to come. :)
To answer your question: Perhaps getting the dyes out of the system is based on the individual. For my children, they seem to be back to normal by the next day if it has snuck into their school diet.
Wishing you the best...
Thank you! He had a great day yesterday. I carried the Trader Joe's lollipops in my handbag now and when we went to the allergist, I gave him one.
DeleteI just need to inform my in-laws now...and hopefully we will have calmer days ahead. I do agree that he is a boy with energy. Our older was more calm at his age. However, I am not exactly comparing apples to apples because he had more electronics in his game to occupy his time, while with our youngest we have decided to do things differently. His electronic stimuli is VERY limited. We prefer that he plays outdoors and his imagination surpasses that of his brother at this age and we do love it!
I will read your blog further, but thank you for having this blog.
That's great! I am glad he is doing better! My youngest gets very hyper after consuming artificial dyes too. I know what you mean about the electronics. I struggle with that all the time and I have to be consistent with how much I allow them to play. They are much more creative without them. Best of luck with avoiding the artificial colors.
DeleteI'm raising my 3 yr. old grandson and have been trying to eliminate red dyes from his diet for a year now. I took him to his pediatrician at age 2 and told her that he was having volitile erratic behavior that went way beyond "terrible twos". She listened to my accounts of his actions and the first thing she said was " eliminate Red Dyes from his diet". I can attest to how hard that is to do. And lately I've noticed that yellow dyes are changing his behavior for the worse. I wish our great country would follow Europe's lead to get these terrible chemicals out of our food supply. My grandson is a very bright normal child without these dyes. And I just can't believe how hard it is to get medicines, especially prescriptions, without dyes in them.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I agree with you about the yellow dyes as well. I am finding that companies are beginning to see the consumer demand for products without harmful artificial dyes by labeling their products "without artificial colors". We all have to help this trend to continue by not buying the products that contain them and if possible emailing, or writing to the companies who use them. Keep spreading your discontent. Our children deserve it. :)
DeleteWe are switching to a dye free diet and I think I have all my facts straight, but there was a comment back about Caramel color and I'm wondering about my Diet Coke habit! I want to do this for my family and myself, but if I take that away I think it might be over the edge for me. Do you think it's harmful to continue? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSorry about the late response. How is your dye free diet going? That's great that you decided to avoid them. My doctor recently told me that drinking Coke can lead to a higher incidence of diabetes. He said Diet Coke is better than Coke, but still it is worth cutting out of your diet. I struggle with eliminating them as well. If it is hard for you to quit, try drinking less each day and drink water. Water is always the best. Best of luck.
ReplyDeleteI just discovered my 15 month old had red dye # 40 allegry and possibly other dyes i will be discussing it with her pedi. on thursday. we are very careful what we feed our daughter all organic, non processed as much as possible yada yada .. honestly i never thought about the dyes ... Until last week on wed. my mother was watching my daughter and decided to give her jello for the first time (she asked and i try to allow her the joys of giving her grandbaby a sweet treat now and than lol) by the next day my normally very sweet ,extremely well behaved ,great sleeping daughter was a different child , one i didnt know and boy did i want my baby back .. she was aggressive, nasty , throwing tantrums over everything!! unconsolable , and wouldnt sleep no matter what we did , i thought maybe this is just her starting to be a toddler ... this continued through the next few days it was horrible!!! it wasnt until my mother pointed out she remembered hearing something bout red dye causing behavior issues that i looked up information about it and realized that ha to be it .. she is back to herself today she hasnt had jello/red 40 since sat. thank god my mom thought of it though , i was going to dismiuss it since she was all better today ... that stuff is scary we will now be adding dye free to our list of food restrictions (people already think were crazy lol) also i read somewhere that is you sprayed red40 or another red dye on a plant iot would work as a pesticide.... scary whats allowed in our food!!! thanks for this site more people need top know about this so kids and parents can stop suffering or being put on unnecessiary medication!!
ReplyDeleteYou are so lucky to find out so quickly! I would definitely avoid the artificial colors. All of the chemical dyes are harmful, but red dye 40, has to be the worst!
Deletemy daughter reacts to red dyes but can anyone tell me if red dye is in sunscreens as my daughter can only wear banana boat sunscreen or she becomes violent? Also is red dye in perfumes as my daughter becomes hypo if we are stuck standing or sitting near someone with perfume on? My daughter also becomes violent if we enter a shop or house which has just had the carpets dry cleaned. No companies will tell us what chemicals are in their dry cleaning products. Is it possible that red dye could be used in dry cleaning products.We will soon be making a 14hr trip to see doctors to have what is called a true test. The only only medicine a doctor can give my 5yr old daughter to treat infections is KLACID ORAL LIQUID as it does not contain an dyes
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI have recently been reading up on all the food coloring's specially REd 3 thats carcinogenic, Red 40 and Yellow 5. Its so hard when you find that its snuck in to ALL the items that kids and adults have. Its so not fair.,I have also been reading up on Caramel Color, BHT, BHA, parabens etc. What have we all gotten ourselves in to???
Shobha
We have gotten ourselves into this...you are right. We all collectively got ourselves into this and we can choose to buy foods that don't have these harmful ingredients to get us all out of this. We all want what is fast, convenient and easy. Processed foods have come a long way, but at the expense of our growing health problems. Scientific advances has given us all that is easy, convenient and fast. It is now difficult for some of us to, so to speak, slow down, find and make foods that are healthy. Greed has caused some to use harmful ingredients their products even though they know that they are harming us because it is either faster, convenient or easier to make. For some, they fear a loss of profit. However, the profits will come as more and more people are seeking out healthier products to use and consume. We will never rid our diet of all that is harmful, but producers that use products that they know can cause harm to our children and cause behavioral changes in many is inexcusable.
DeleteI am going to cut out all red dye #40, and try that, after a parent teacher confrence my son's teacher told me about the red dye, and I am going to try and cut it out and see if there is a difference. His teacher said that she knew someone who cut out red dye and it was like night and day. I really hope this works.
ReplyDeleteMy husband had issues with red dye back in the early 70's . His mom got him off it, though it was a lot harder to do back then. She had to make everything herself. Now having same issues with our 5 year old son. Got him off dye and preservatives and he's done a 180 in school. From refusing to do his work and getting into trouble to finishing his work and no trouble. He had a cupcake at snack time today (someone's birthday) and teacher said within minutes he was starting to bounce around. I'll be sending in his own special treats for such occasions now.
ReplyDeleteAs a teenager, I suffered severely from migraines, after finding out it was certain foods that would trigger it. Such as bacon, cheetos, pop tarts, etc. My mother always thought it was the salt and sodium in the foods that did this to me. I have had what they call a major stroke, and a bunch of ministrokes in my life since I was 22 years old, all blamed on pregnancy. Now I have vertigo spells, and my neurologist is starting to think I have MS.
ReplyDeleteMy son, who is 7, is ADHD and has it very severe! He is on Concerta, and his body is immune to it, so it doesn't work on the "Hyperactive" state. Last night, we had spaghetti, and he was up fighting sleep until midnight, wouldn't calm down at all. I'm definitely going to take the Artificial colors, especially red dye, out of our diet and see how this works!
My daughter is 9, and had seizures at 18 months old, due to having been sick for 3 days before the seizures. They never found out why she had the seizures, but during those 3 days we kept giving her Children's Tylenol and Motrin (both have red dye), so I'm now wondering?!?! Also, if she eats sauces, and it gets on her face, her face breaks out around her mouth really bad! Last night after eating spaghetti, she fought with HORRIBLE stomach pains clenching over from the pain! Still had the pain this morning when she got up for school! I definitely am glad I found this blog, and I am going to start being RED DYE FREE! Thank you!
Does white chocolate have dyes in it?
ReplyDeletePlease sign our petition to Kraft foods. My son started it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.change.org/petitions/kraft-foods-please-remove-harmful-food-coloring-and-the-chemical-bha-out-of-jello-products
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=255516
ReplyDeleteJust found this site, started having heart palpitations and narrowed it down to Crystal light strawberry energy drink. Initially thought it was caffeine, but other caffeinated products don't bother me. Started eliminating red dyes from my diet and heart palpitations are gone.
ReplyDeleteHth
Just found this website and starting to really like it. My daughter was suffering from upset stomaches and a week ago she started having hives and found out she is allergic to red dye. She is doing amazing giving up a lot of things but struggling on what to make now to replace everything that we used to eat. Shopping today took me an extra hour and a half to do with reading labels. Any suggestion would be great. The whole family has decided tom go red dye free to make it easier for her. Can anyone tell me what the school has done for their children when it comes to school meals?
ReplyDeletethanks,
Michele
I just found brand new Sprite Cranberry - it tastes absolutely fantastic and no color dye!!! I heard it is seasonal but I am hoping somehow Coca-Cola can just call it berry flavor and keep it out ALL YEAR round!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI just found and tried recently Sprite Cranberry. I found it at Target, but I heard it is hard to find in some areas. I think it tastes absolutely fabulous and when I checked the ingredients - I was so pleased NO red color dye! I heard it is seasonal, but lets push Coca-cola to keep it out ALL year round - just call it berry flavor or something! It is so great!
ReplyDeleteI have been breaking out in hives since the end of January. Primary doc ran blood allergy tests for food. All fine. I broke out worse after eating red meat. Alpha-gal negative. I always have hives in the mornings. Began to check ingredients in my Synthroid.
ReplyDeleteHad red wine Wed evening and my upper lip and left eye were swollen the next day. Went to urgent care on Friday akd was given a steroid inj. Did not take my synthroid that night. Woke up yesterday with zero hives. Had a sonic frozen cherry limeade. Three hours later broke out all over my face, neck, back,arms and sides. Went to ER. They agree red dye allergy. IV steroids and benadryl. Oral steroids for 4 days. Switched to dye free benadryl. Pepcid instead of zantac. Now have to figure out what to do with thyroid meds since all doses close to mine contain red dye.
My wife developed a bad red 40 allergy. Sites like yours are a blessing. Quick shopping now takes an hour instead of 30 minutes as I read every label. Since she couldn't have her favorite breakfast of cherry PopTarts anymore, I grabbed Blueberry Pop Tarts. Just to be sure (and not get in trouble with the wife] I looked at the ingredients. Imagine the shocking lesson I got! The harshest Blueberry lesson since that bad girl in Willy Wonka! 😲
ReplyDeleteMy 11 yr old daughter has been red dye free for 10 years. She had a allergic reaction to a strawberry muffin while at daycare. After several doctor visits, emergency room visits, and specialist, We found she was allergic to red dye and has a spastic colon. Her stomach cramps was compared to labor pains. She is very aware of labels and is able to select her own snacks. The dye is everywhere.. Our latest finding, SWISS ROLLS...who knew???
ReplyDeleteI realize this is an old blog post--not sure if anyone is still checking comments? Just wondering if anyone else has noticed increased hyperactivity in their children after using heavily dyed modelling clay? My 4 yr old daughter goes absolutely CRAZY when she ingests red dyes so we eliminated it from her diet over a year ago and she hasn't had a super-hyperactive episodes since--until today. She was absolutely out of control--spinning in circles, throwing herself into furniture and down on the floor. She hasn't eaten anything out of the ordinary (I try to cook from scratch so we don't eat much processed junk and have limited sugar). But it hit me when I realized her 7 year old sister was acting the same way(and she is NEVER like this!). But they had been playing with cheap modelling clay FOR hours over the past two days. Their hands were often completely dyed from it. I wonder how much of this crappy dye was absorbed through their skin and into their bloodstream. Enough to change them into COMPLETELY different kids. I'm throwing that junk out and wanted to give a warning to all the parents with dye sensitive kids--maybe others realized this already--but it was a shock to me--it's not just 'food' we have to watch out for. I'm certainly going to try harder to make sure it's not absorbed through their skin too. Face paints? Make-up? Scary stuff.
ReplyDeleteYes, this blog is in need of an update! I have much more to say. I think that you are right about it possibly being absorbed in the skin, or small amounts might have been accidentally ingested. A lot of kids like the taste of playdoh, but I'm not sure about the clay you have. I notice a drastic behavioral change with just small doses - for example, in certain medications. I actually had an incidence this week with our sweet conure! I accidentally bought a supplemental fruit snack that looked completely organic, but it had artifical colors... After a week of crazy squawking and fierce biting from our beloved bird, I looked at the one thing I changed recently - the fruit supplement! I threw away the bag and this morning we have our sweet bird back! So, yes I think it is possible for your daughters to react to the dyes in the clay. I get soap without it, toothpaste without it, and request any medications to be dye-free.
ReplyDeleteThis Food Journal and Diary is a great step in investing more time and energy into building the best version of yourself.
ReplyDeleteWhat gets monitored gets managed, and this book is a great daily companion and enabler for you to become a more mindful and conscious consumer.
It's simple, clear, easy to use, aesthetically pleasing and very organized. Keep track of what you eat in style, and start making changes to become the best future-self you can be!
The Consumer Notes Food Journal and Diary will help you take a closer look at what you're putting into your body and keep motivated as you discover, adjust and develop new ways of seeing when it comes to food.
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Does anyone know of a candy like atomic fire balls that doesn’t have red 40?
ReplyDeleteThis post is really good. Thank you for sharing. To find more children multivitamin check this out–>all-natural vitamins for kids
ReplyDeleteThis post is really good. Thank you for sharing. To find more children multivitamin check this out–>all-natural vitamins for kids
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!
ReplyDeleteI recently became the Gaurdian over my 10 year old nephew. He suffers from ADHD, ODD, PTSD, AUTISM AND DISLEXIA.
I am in the process now of trying a dye cleanse on his foods and drinks. He goes for a good while doing great and then out of nowhere he gets angry, misbehave's and does not listen.
I am excited to try the bicarbonate trick to try and help purge the dye from his system and get him back on track.
Chef boyardee recently removed artificial coloring as well
ReplyDelete