

photo credit: pineapple9995

Consumers Deserve Real Food, not Foodless Food

by Guest Blogger, Jane Hersey, Feingold Association

One of the interesting repercussions from the recent publicity about the link between food dyes and ADHD has been the industry’s attempt to put their own spin on the issue — to say that we need petroleum-based food dyes, and our lives would be unpleasant without them.

Symbolic of this is the photo of gray popsicles that appeared in a NY Times article, Colorless Food? We Blanch. Without these dyes, so the story goes, our food would all be colorless and unappetizing.

The image is striking, but absurd on several levels.

First of all, food that is made from food has the color of that food. So, if a popsicle is actually made from strawberries it will be the color of the strawberries. News flash: Strawberries are pink, orange juice is orange and grape juice is purple.

Food companies would never create gray food since consumers would not buy it, and these folks are not in the business of creating products that don’t sell. This is why multinational food companies are coloring processed foods with (the more expensive) natural dyes, for sale in Europe.

The choice is not between foods that are gray and foods that have fake dyes. The choices are between real foods and foodless foods, and between dyes that are cheap and dyes that are more expensive.

Jane Hersey is the national director of the Feingold Association of the US, and has worked with the organization since 1976. Jane is the author of “Why Can’t My Child Behave?” and “Healthier Food for Busy People.” Also, she edits the Association’s newsletter, Pure Facts. To learn more about the Feingold program which helps those struggling with food additive sensitivities, visit the Feingold website.

Please watch this video where a Mom Tells Dramatic Story of Food Coloring and ADHD.

If you find this alarming, please see (and share!) the related video in a recent Hartke is Online! blog post, The Unhealthy Truth About our Modern Processed Foods. Since posted on this blog it has received over 6000 views!

This post is part of the Food Renegade Fight Back Friday blog carnival. Join other food activists to discuss food politics!

