BMJ  2008;336:1144 (24 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39582.375336.BE

Editorials

Food additives and hyperactivity

Evidence supports a trial period of eliminating colourings and preservatives from the diet

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

Whether preservatives and colourings cause or exacerbate hyperactive behaviours is an important question for many paediatricians and parents. A recent randomised placebo controlled trial in 297 children aged 3-9 years provides evidence of increased hyperactive behaviour after they ate a mixture of food colourings and a preservative (sodium benzoate).¹ In contrast to many previous studies, the children were from the general population and did not have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The trial found an adverse effect of the mixture on behaviour as measured by a global hyperactivity aggregate score. The daily dose approximated that found in two 56 g bags of sweets.

In view of the potential importance of these findings, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently provided an opinion that takes other evidence into account.² The release of the EFSA findings was reported in a news article in the BMJ under the headline "Agency rejects research on food additives" and . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Department of Allergy and Immunology, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia

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