As you take in all that the food world offers your child, you may notice the “rainbow” of colors in your child’s diet. Maybe you’ve noticed “the rainbow” does NOT come from fruit and vegetables. Rather, from food containing artificial colors.

Are you wondering whether your child gets too much? Do these food additives have an adverse effect on your child’s behavior?

In this article, I’ll look at food dye and behavior in children. Specifically, how they may affect kids with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which foods tend to have artificial colorings, and what you can do to limit synthetic dyes so that behavioral problems are minimized.

The Connection between Food Dyes and Children’s Behavior

Food colors, preservatives, and other food components are a hot issue, especially if you have a child who shows behavioral changes when they eat food containing color additives like red dye or yellow no. 5.

What I know as a childhood nutritionist is this: Synthetic food coloring may have an effect on kids. The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency’s office reviewed the results of recent studies on synthetic food dye and behavior.

 In the April 2021 assessment, the OEHHA report states that,

“The body of evidence from human studies indicates that synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral outcomes in children, and that children vary in their sensitivity to synthetic food dyes.”

The studies “suggest that synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral effects, such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and restlessness in sensitive children.”

Furthermore, a 2022 paper looking at 27 clinical trials in children, most of which were challenge studies, concluded, “There is a need to re-evaluate exposure in children and for additional research to provide a more complete database for establishing ADIs protective of neurobehavioral effects”.

Kids with ADHD and Sensory Issues

Although not all children who are sensitive to food dyes have ADHD, and not all children with ADHD symptoms are sensitive to such dyes, we do have some information about them and how they may affect behavior in children with ADHD.

One study showed that up to 8% of children with ADHD showed sensitivity to food additives like artificial food colors. Hyperactivity seems to be the symptom that kids who are sensitive tend to exhibit.

In my class for parents about nutrition for ADHD, we discuss the consumption of synthetic food dyes and how to temper them when a child is sensitive to them.

Why Do Food Manufacturers Add Artificial Food Dye?

Color additives are included in food to enhance or maintain food’s appearance, often taking food from drab to dramatic. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows 9 different synthetic color additives in our food supply.

These seven food dyes contribute nearly all of the exposure in the general public:

• Blue no 1 (Brilliant blue)
• Blue no. 2 (Indigo Carmine)
• Green no. 3 (Fast Green)
• Red no. 3 (Erythrosine)
• Red no. 40 (Allura Red)
• Yellow no. 5 (Tartrazine)
• Yellow no. 6 (Sunset Yellow)

These are the main reasons a manufacturer may add artificial colors to food:

• To bring color to food that would be essentially colorless without it (ie, candy)
• To enhance or brighten colors already in food
• So they can prevent the loss of color due to environmental elements such as heat
• To keep the product appearance consistent over time

Natural Dyes vs. Artificial Food Colors

Natural food colors come from the pigment of foods like beta-carotene (carrots), grape skin extract (grapes) and saffron (a spice). These may add additional health qualities to the food itself.

Synthetic food dyes are produced from chemicals.

There are two types of artificial food colorings: Dyes and lakes. Dyes are water soluble (they dissolve in water). They typically come in powder, granule, or liquid form. Lakes are not water-soluble and are found in products containing fats and oils.

Artificial Food Colors Regulation

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates and guarantees the purity and safety of artificial food colorings. FDA’s acceptable daily intake levels (ADI) of synthetic food dye was established between 1960-1980.

As it stands in the United States today, the FDA considers food dyes to be safe for human consumption in the general population. However, the FDA recommendations are decades old and based on older studies. When ADI levels were determined, the studies weren’t looking at the neurobehavioral issues associated with artificial food dyes.

OEHHA argues that current levels of food dye consumption would exceed the current ADI levels if they considered the new study findings focused on neurobehavioral effects.

Alternatively, in the European Union, the European Food Safety Authority removed Red #40 and Yellow #5 and #6 from the market. Europe placed warning labels on food packages with other artificial food colors. This action has deterred some manufacturers and prompted many (even in the US) to create products with natural food colors.

How Much is Safe?

The following is a table of artificial dyes in food, the FDA’s ADIs, and some common foods that contain these dyes.

Beverages, Sweets, and Snacks, Oh My!

There are a lot of foods that are available to children with food dyes. Artificial food colorings have no nutritional value—they do not add nutrients or calories to food. Beverages are one of the biggest sources of synthetic food dyes in the diet, mostly because large volumes are consumed at a time.

The most common foods associated with food dye exposure are juice drinks, fruit-flavored drinks (powders which get reconstituted), soft drinks, ice cream cones, breakfast cereals, and icings. Candy, popsicles, jello, cakes, boxed dinners, and snacks contain them, too.

Even foods without color, like white icing or marshmallows, may contain artificial food colors to make them look whiter. Other products, like pickles, contain yellow and blue dye to make the product look greener.

Grab the FREE Guide!

Should You Limit Foods with Artificial Food Dye?

I’ve always felt that it’s a good idea to limit artificial flavors and colors in your child’s diet. Since some of the US studies don’t test realistic amounts found and consumed from our food supply, the results may under-represent what’s actually in the foods kids eat and their overall exposure.

For children who show sensitivity to artificial food dye as hyperactive behavior or behavior problems, I think it’s worth exploring a limit on their intake. Look for healthy dye-free foods for your family’s diet. Avoid foods with colorings by reading the ingredients list on packaged food.

Recent evidence shows that there’s a connection between food dye and behavior. Whether you decide to reduce, eliminate, or do nothing about artificial food colors, it’s beneficial to know about them, understand where they’re found in food, and get a sense of the amount your family is consuming.

Resources

• The ADHD Diet for Kids (a course for parents)
• The Best Diet for Kids with ADHD