When I was little foods and candies with bright colors enticed me because they were so pretty and they looked so yummy. Sour Neon Worms, Fruit Loops, and Push-Ups --I just couldn't get enough! Well now brightly colored foods do stick out to me but in a totally different way. When I look at them these days I'm not thinking, "Oh yummy, " Im thinking "DANGER DANGER DANGER!" As an 18 year old I am aware of teh many risks of teh food dyes used in these foods and canndies. It is ridiculous that the food industries are still able to use these dangerous colors in our food, especially the foods that are marketed to our children.Artificial food dyes used in the manufacturing of colorful foods such as Skittles and Fruity Pebbles, pose extreme health risks and many groups are demanding that they be banned in the United States as they are in many countries all over the world such as Britain. James Huff, associate director for chemical carcinogens at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences' National Toxicology Program, states that the dyes are "unnecessary to humans, especially young children." The Center for Science in the Public Interest states that the dyes "can cause allergic reactions, hyperactivity, and even cancer." Three widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, adn Yellow 6 are all contaminated with known carcinogens. Red 3, a less commonly used dye, has been acknowledged for years by the FDA to be a carcinogen and "has clearly been shown to induce cancer, " yet 200,000 pounds of it is still used inour food supplyevery year.
Parents, schools, and even grandmas are killing the precious youth of America. Why? Because our government refuses to acknowledge the risk posed by the artificial dyes. Do we just not love our children as the British do? Why do we allow manufacturers to endanger our future for the sake of brighter and flashier food? Are we really that shallow?
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ReplyDeleteUpon reading your title I thought your blog would elaborate more on the harms of the candy (skittles). I was very interested in your topic being I have and addiction to so many brightly colored candies. I could relate to some of the harmful effects dealing with the dye contained in brightly colored candy. I would often times get sick or have extreme headaches. Your argument of why the government doesn’t step up to help change the health of people was a valid question. I was expecting a lot more elaboration on possible alternatives to candies with less artificial coloring or none at all http://journeytocrunchville.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/halloween-in-crunchville-dye-free-candy/l. This site presented a story of a woman who found an alternative to artificially dyed candy that was much healthier and had a great impact on human’s health. Another argument that you can bring up or go into further details on is how people themselves can change the use of artificial dye used by manufactures. What as a community can be done to decrease the effects of brightly colored dyed food and candies? My overall thought of this post was that it was very informative and interesting. It made me want to continue on reading to learn more about something that I intake so much every day.
ReplyDeleteYour picture in this blog did not connect with the argument. I thought the blog was about Skittles because the title had Skittles in it also. As I read the opening, I realized what the blog was about. The argument flowed throughout the blog. I think you were being a little dramatic about this topic, but I can understand why this has created concern to you. As I did some research, I came across the website, red40.com, which discussed a lot of things about Red dye #40. This site also has diagrams showing the similarities and differences among the three types of dyes in your argument. In the articles, I came across the history of the three dyes you have mentioned. According to red40.com, the food dye that's generated the most controversy is Yellow Dye #5, Tatrazine. It has caused hyperactivity in children, as well as causing hives in other individuals, according to associatedcontent.com. The FDA, Food and Drug Administration, has regulations that require prescription medicines to notify the use of Yellow 5. I also read Sudan 1 is another food dye that has cause problems with allergies. According to associatedcontent.com, Sudan 1 has been recently banned from Europe because it was shown to be a carcinogenic. Sudan 1 is a red dye used in spices. It has not been banned in the U.S. either. If these specific dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and, Sudan 1, really are as dangerous as you have argued, then why haven’t the U.S. banned them? This is a good question, and I think the FDA should be providing answers.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1055285/food_dye_in_your_food_do_you_know_what_pg2.html?cat=5
http://www.red40.com/pages/chemistry.html