Colors and dyes

Red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, and blue 2 are some very common food colors and dyes that are found in many quick American foods such as fruits, chips, and yogurt. The colors and dyes are also found in lip moisturizer, shampoo, and some vitamins. There isn't a day in a regular American's life when they don't come into contact with these colors and dyes.

They debate on whether they are harmful or not has been going on in America for years, but in other countries such as Australia and Norway, they have been banned. Even Britain urges the companies not to use the colors and dyes. This is because of the fact that there are harmful toxins, carcinogens, and contributors to ADHD. The reason it is still legal in the USA is because there are other unnatural chemicals in most of the foods and health-care products that use colors and dyes, so determining the cause of health problems is tricky. If there are health problems associated with the health-care products and foods, it is almost impossible to link those problems back to the colors and dyes solely.

A way that companies can change the colors and dyes they use in their foods is to use natural resources to color their products. "... food makers like Kellogg's tint food distributed outside the U.S. with paprika extract, beetroot, annatto and other color additives thought to be much safer than the dyes used in the U.S." (msn, Colors and Dyes). This would be more expensive for the companies and the color might not be as vivid with the natural additives than with the dyes, but that's a price I would be willing to pay for the knowledge that there are no harmful dyes in my mac 'n cheese and shampoo.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelhennessey/2012/08/27/living-in-color-the-potential-dangers-of-artificial-dyes/

http://healthyliving.msn.com/health-wellness/10-things-americans-eat-that-are-banned-elsewhere#7