In last month's Safety newsletter, our article Macaroni Madness let you know about the controversy over the use of yellow dye #5 (a.k.a. "Tartrazine) and yellow dye #6 in a popular macaroni and cheese product marketed to kids. Though numerous studies have demonstrated a strong link between these chemical additives and health problems, including cancer, ADHD, migraines, asthma, nervous impairment, and skin rashes, and even as the ingredients have been banned or are being phased out in other countries, food manufacturers continue to include the potentially harmful dyes in American versions of their products. Why? Because we continue to buy the products.
We received a lot of email about this article, and several of you wanted us to point out to our readers that these dyes are not just being used in instant macaroni and cheese. They can be found on pretty much every aisle of the grocery store. They are used in chips, yogurts, candies, colored marshmallows, pickles, fruit snacks, gelatin, puddings, children's vitamins and pharmaceuticals, flavored milks, ice cream, pop cycles, cereals, canned fruits or vegetables, crackers, breads, cakes, icings, canned pasta products, boxed rice or potato sides, powdered drink mixes, and powdered meal mixes. They are also used in many beverages, cosmetics, soaps, and beauty products. And they are used to create many colors in food, not just yellow.
Here's the thing. the FDA requires that Yellow Dye #5 (Tartrazine) and Yellow Dye #6 must be listed on the ingredients listing whenever a product contains these chemicals. If a label lists "artificial colors," or any other coloring ingredient, without specifically listing Yellow Dye #5 (can be listed as Tartrazine) and/or Yellow Dye #6, you can assume the product does not contain the potentially harmful chemicals. If you want to put pressure on food manufacturers to remove these dyes from our foods, you can write to them directly, sign the Change.org petition, or -- and this may be the most effective campaign of all -- simply stop buying products that contain potentially harmful dyes. They do pay attention to market trends, and if a product with Yellow Dye stops selling, the manufacturer will make a change.
