What they say about diet therapy - and please note that this is the information that the FDA uses today - 2009 - to justify their refusal to remove the food dyes from American products. Note the age of the studies cited, and the fact that they claim the Rowe & Rowe 1994 study showed "A small number of children may respond negatively to tartrazine, a synthetic food dye." In that Rowe study, the percent of 200 children responding to diet was 75%. The percent of those reacting to a single dye challenge (and showing a dose-response) was 82.6% - how did this metamorphose into a "small number?" And one more thing ... don't miss the last sentence, in which they warn physicians not to "disrupt the therapeutic alliance." Now how condescending is that? Read it all for yourself here: "Dietary Interventions

Since the mid-1970s, the advocates of dietary treatment of behavioral problems have been remarkably persistent (Rimland, 1983) despite the lack of scientific evidence. A variety of food additives and food allergens have been proposed as contributory or even causal in childhood hyperactivity. Reviews of the methodologically adequate studies show that, at most, 5% of hyperactive children may show behavioral or cognitive improvement on the additive-free Kaiser-Permanente or Feingold diets, but these changes are not as dramatic as those induced by stimulants (Kavale and Forness, 1983; Mattes, 1983; Wender, 1986). The only characteristic associated with greater likelihood of response is age less than 6 years. A small number of children may respond negatively to tartrazine, a synthetic food dye (Rowe and Rowe, 1994). Parents and some primary care practitioners find dietary treatment appealing because it is more "natural" than medication, but special diets require extra work and often additional expense for a family that is already strained by a child's behavior problems. Considering the minimal evidence of efficacy and the extreme difficulty inducing children and adolescents to comply with restricted diets, dietary treatment should not be recommended, except possibly with preschool children. Families who insist on trying a diet should be permitted to do so, if the diet is nutritionally sound, because initial attempts to dissuade them may disrupt the therapeutic alliance." Quote from Practice Parameters 2007, p. 903: The 1997 practice parameter (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1997) extensively reviewed a variety of nonpharmacological interventions for ADHD other than behavior therapy, including cognitive-behavioral therapy and dietary modification. No evidence was found at that time to support these interventions in patients with ADHD, and no studies have appeared since then that would justify their use.