Food dyes should be banned

doi:10.1136/bmj.39605.531111.3A

BMJ 2008;336:1325 (14 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39605.531111.3A

Letters

Additives and hyperactivity

Food dyes should be banned

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Considering the numerous studies conducted over the past 30years, Kemp is right in urging physicians to routinely encouragepatients with hyperactivity to avoid food dyes.¹ However, consideringthe dyes’ lack of health benefit and the risk they pose,the proper public health approach is for national governmentsto ban the use of all food dyes. After all, it is extremelydifficult, firstly, for a parent to determine that a child issensitive to dyes and, secondly, for parents to protect easilytempted children from tasty colourful foods that are servedat parties; sold at stores, restaurants, and vending machines;and traded among friends.

The British Food Standards Agency deserves credit for encouragingmanufacturers and restaurants to switch to safer, natural colourings.As a result of government pressure, Kellogg, McDonald’s,Kraft, Mars, and other multinational companies now market foodswithout dyes in Britain, but market the same foods with dyes. . . [Full text of this article]

Michael Jacobson, executive director

¹ Center for Science in the Public Interest, Washington, DC, 20009, USA

mjacobson@cspinet.org