dyes

Another reason to watch what you eat... literally watch the label and see if there is junk in it...

"The Unhealthy Truth" does a great job explaining the potential dangers of the food dyes that are in our food system... Chemicals. Chemicals and more chemicals... Chemicals that have not been tested on long term exposure and we as a population is the biggest science experiment ever conducted. No thanks! I'll opt out!

I found this great article at Healthy Child that is useful...

"If you read the labels of your food, you’re probably aware of all the food dyes used. Yellow no 5, blue no 1, red no 3. They’re everywhere. 

They’re in breakfast cereals, candy, soda, crackers, and boxed macaroni and cheese.

What you may not be aware of it they are linked to a variety of diseases including allergic reactions, hyperactivity that mimics ADHD in children, and cancer.

What you may also not be aware of is due to consumer demands they have been taken out of a lot of foods in Europe and replaced with natural food colors. They use things like beetroot and paprika to achieve the same colors.

So, the same products and companies that make food for the U.S. and add chemicals for color, make the exact same products for Europe without the chemicals.

I love this article, Toxics in Our Kids food, not only because it explains the issue, but because of the picture example in the middle of the article. It shows the US Nutrigrain bars with the color ingredients Red No 40, Yellow No 6, and Blue No 1. Next to it is the UK Nutrigrain bars with their colors, beetroot red, annatto, and paprika extract.

As a parent and a consumer, that makes me mad. If a product can, and is, being made with natural ingredients instead of chemicals, it should be everywhere. It shouldn’t matter if it’s Europe, the U.S., or Kenya, the safest possible product should be offered everywhere. Big companies should just do what’s right every once in a while without having to be told to do so by the government. I’m all for personal accountability, but not everyone can be an expert on everything. We should be able to grab something off the shelf and know it’s safe and not potentially harming our kids. It’s common sense and, frankly, just common decency.

So, what can we do about it?

Read labels and avoid food dyes if at all possible

There are products out there that use natural food coloring. Buy those instead of the big brands. They taste the same. We can use our money to tell the big companies we don’t want chemicals in our food."

Read more: http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/food_dyes_and_kids/#ixzz20LYclHAs


Another reason to make your own food... trust me... starting to cook more from scratch will get easier! It will become more enjoyable... Can you believe I am saying this!? If you have known me at all, I've hated the kitchen-part of housewifelyhood... No more! It's my stewardship and responsibility and i GET to feed my family! How the Lord has transformed me!