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Exploring Food Dyes: Keeping You Informed · Talking FACS

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  Welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, and fitness.
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  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
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  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
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  You probably have seen on social media chatter about food dyes
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  and you might wonder, are they safe?
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  Are they harmful? What do I need to be concerned about?
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  Hello and welcome to Talking FACS. We have information you can use to strengthen
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  your family, your community, and our state.
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  I am your host, Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist for Instructional Support
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  with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky.
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  My guest today, Dr. Courtney Luecking, Extension Specialist for Maternal and Child
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  Health, is here to share with us about food dyes. Welcome, Courtney.Hi Mindy.
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  So let's just get right into the nitty-gritty about food dyes.
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  What are they, first of all? What are these food dyes that we are hearing so
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  much about? Yes, a very important place to start.
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  Food dyes are colors that are added to food, vitamins, medications and even cosmetic products.
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  And companies are oftentimes adding a dye to boost a food's natural color.
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  So to make something look a little brighter red, for example,
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  or to help identify a flavor.
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  So can you think of a flavor and a color that you like or that you see?
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  I'm thinking raspberry because I hate the taste of fake raspberry. Uh-huh.
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  It's like you can, it's one of those things you can pick out because they always
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  make it really, really red, right?
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  Yes, or the blue raspberry could be blue.
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  And sometimes it doesn't really exist, right? Right, right, right, right.
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  And so sometimes they're making colorless things more fun, to your point.
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  But it can also have a functional purpose in terms of fixing color loss from
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  light, air, temperature, or even storage conditions.
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  Are these food dyes regulated?
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  There are two different types of food dyes. Some come from natural sources,
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  and then some are synthetic or artificially made.
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  The natural sources of color include plants or vegetables, minerals,
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  and even animals. And then artificial dyes are made from chemical ingredients.
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  And these are the ones that are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.
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  I kind of was surprised that you said that food dyes are in things like cosmetics
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  even. Are those even regulated?
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  Yes, those are regulated as well. Any of these synthetic or artificial colors,
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  regardless of what they're used in, are regulated.
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  You had a whole list of things that we might find food dies in.
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  Are there ones that we should be particularly concerned about or that people
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  might be particularly sensitive to?
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  Sure. Well, let's talk about what kinds of colors we might see on the food label.
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  The food label, the ingredient list is going to be the best spot for us to look
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  and see if a food product has an artificial food color in it.
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  On the label, we currently have eight colors that are approved for use by the FDA.
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  There's blue number one, blue number two, green number three.
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  Orange B, citrus red number two, red number 40, yellow number five, and yellow number six.
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  All of that to say, these are on in that ingredients list. So those are things
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  that you would be looking for.
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  You might even look for FD&C, like an abbreviation on the label,
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  and then a number. And that would indicate, again, that there are these artificial colors in there.
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  Are synthetic food dyes safe? I'm guessing if they're approved for use, they are, but.
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  Yes. So there have been a lot of concerns about this, right?
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  You mentioned it when you were starting that we see stories in the media,
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  maybe on TV, we might see things on social media.
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  And California, their Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment,
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  recently conducted a thorough review of the evidence available to date.
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  And they concluded that children, pregnant people, and people of childbearing
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  potential, kind of that age range of childbearing potential,
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  they have widespread exposure to food diets.
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  And in fact, some might be consuming more than the intended level that's used
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  for determining the safety.
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  And this is because these synthetic food diets can be present in a lot of our
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  food products, these processed foods, which I think you asked earlier and I
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  didn't quite answer, so I'll answer it now.
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  So where do we find these? A lot of times in breakfast cereals,
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  fruit-flavored snacks, candies, ice cream cones, icing, juice drinks, soft drinks.
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  It's also in a lot of those cheesy products like cheesy popcorn or cheesy puffs,
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  spray cheese or cheese dips to give it that orangish color that we're expecting
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  to see when we're eating cheese.
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  But it's also found in salad dressing and condiments, fruit cups,
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  the cherries in fruit cups sometimes are dyed with extra red to be bright,
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  fruit and trail mix and chips, meal starter kits.
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  So they're in a lot of places and kind of looping back to that point of the
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  research that's been done, that's why they're seeing people are sometimes exposed
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  to levels that are higher than that safety testing limit.
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  I know that a lot of the chatter that we hear is about children being exposed to food dyes.
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  So what are the concerns around that?
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  So, this report actually found that there is a link between the typical amounts
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  of the artificial food dye that children are exposed to in the food supply and
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  their brain development and behavior.
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  This included children who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
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  or as a lot of us oftentimes say, ADHD, as well as children who do not have ADHD.
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  But the dyes don't affect all children the same. So it's not a for sure yes,
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  it's not a for sure no, but they did see a link between it.
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  Can't necessarily say causation at this point, but just recognizing signs.
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  So if you think a child or your child might be more sensitive to these food
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  dyes, they might have trouble concentrating, they might be hyperactive,
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  or they might be restless. Those are some of the links in behavior that have been observed.
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  What can we do then to limit their exposure? Well, I'll give you a couple tips.
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  But before I do that, I want to mention that in January of 2025.
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  The FDA actually banned the use of red dye number three.
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  It had previously been approved for use in food and beverages and oral medications.
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  But after decades of work by advocacy organizations and petitions,
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  they have banned its use because that dye was identified to cause thyroid cancer in rats.
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  There is no mechanism for that
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  in humans, but there's part of this Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
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  It's known as the Delaney Clause. And that says whether an additive is shown
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  to cause cancer in humans or animals, it should be banned.
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  And so this is an example of how research is always ongoing and in ways that
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  they're working to make the food supply safe.
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  So one way to limit exposure is when these regulations change,
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  because by January 2027, food companies have to eliminate red dye number three from their products.
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  Okay. So that's good to know. That was going to be my next question.
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  Like, so if it's banned, then how quickly does it go away? So it's not an immediate thing.
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  It's going to be a process to get rid of it.
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  Exactly. Because the food companies are going to need time to reformulate their
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  products and then roll those out.
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  Okay. All right. All right. So let's talk about the ways that we can limit exposure
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  to food dyes, just in general, because who knows what might be the next one to be banned, right?
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  Exactly. Exactly. So my first tip would be to focus on whole foods.
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  Earlier, when we were running through the list of things that have these artificial
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  dyes added to them, there are a lot of these ultra-processed foods.
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  So if we focus on things like fruit or vegetables, whole grains,
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  animal and plant sources of protein, low-fat dairy, these are less likely to have food dyes.
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  So when we say eat a rainbow, we mean the rainbow that grows from in the ground
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  or in a tree or... Yes, that's a really good point.
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  Because I know when my daughter, she was like, oh, and I'm not hating on a brand
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  here, but Fruit Loops, for example. She's like, well, it's fruit, mom.
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  And so then we have to talk through why and how it wasn't actually a fruit.
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  Completely understandable, right? Yes, yes. Do you have some recommended tips
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  to help us avoid food dyes?
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  Yes, so there's a few more things that we can do. One,
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  if organic is in your budget, this is an option to identify foods that are free
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  of artificial food dyes because the regulations make it so that these types
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  of additives cannot be added to foods and still be called organic.
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  So that's another thing. And then drinking water, infusing your water with fruit
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  or herbs or vegetables is a way to add flavor without adding dyes.
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  Perfect. Yeah. And that makes sense because you're not going to have dyes in
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  your cucumbers, right? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
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  Some of these food dyes are made from natural sources. I'm thinking that beets
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  are probably a great way to make things red.
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  Yes. And so is there a push or a movement maybe to get people to use more natural food dyes?
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  Companies have been exploring this over time.
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  I can't speak behind the curtain of their research and development process, but yes,
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  there has been movement to incorporate more of these natural sources of colors
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  than the artificial ones, but the artificial ones are very much prevalent still.
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  Yeah, I'm thinking about how blue my fingernails turned when I pulled the blueberries
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  out to put my oatmeal this morning.
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  Yes, so there is a lot of opportunity with those foods.
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  Courtney, before we wrap up, do we have any last tips to share with our listeners?
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  Yes, I would say I just want to reinforce checking that food label.
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  If this is a topic or something that concerns you for yourself or your family
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  members, check that food label and be wary of claims on the packaging for healthy
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  or natural, as those terms are.
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  Well, healthy now has a standard definition, but natural doesn't.
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  And so looking for that word artificial color or that FDNC that I mentioned
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  earlier and a number, that will indicate that there are food dyes in here.
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  And then just staying up to date because people continue to do research on this.
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  And we've seen a lot of movement just in the last 12 months.
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  And so as we continue to learn more, we'll get a better understanding of how
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  bodies absorb and use and break down or get rid of food dice.
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  And this may lead to changes, like you mentioned earlier, in future regulations
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  or laws about what can or cannot be used.
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  That's a perfect point that just because we've always done something one way
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  doesn't mean that right or the best for us.
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  And using the science to know what is good is perfect for us. Yes.
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  Thank you, Courtney, for your time and your insight into this very interesting topic.
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  Thank you so much for having me. If you are just tuning in, you're listening
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