COLOURINGS used in many children’s foods and drinks are liable to cause temper tantrums and disruptive behaviour in as many as a quarter of toddlers, according to government research. Scientists at the Asthma and Allergy Research Centre, originally commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, concluded that “significant changes in children’s hyperactive behaviour could be produced by the removal of colourings and additives from their diet”.
The researchers added: “The findings of the present study suggest that benefit would accrue for all children from such a change, and not just for those already showing hyperactive behaviour or who are at risk of allergic reactions.”
This is the first time that a scientific study sponsored by the Government has corroborated the suspected link between food additives and changes in children’s mood and behaviour. Following the study, the Food Commission, the independent pressure group that campaigns for safe food, says that it found more than 200 children’s foods and drinks containing one or more of the additives called into question by the research.
“Nearly two fifths of children’s foods and drinks contain additives,” Annie Seeley, a nutritionist with the commission, said yesterday. “The colourings tested in this new research are used in familiar children’s foods such as Jammie Dodgers, Smarties, Wagon Wheels, Walkers Football crisps, and Irn Bru and Tizer fizzy drinks. Now that a link between these colourings and disruptive behaviour has been proved, we should remove these additives from children’s foods and drinks.”
The food additives were tested on 277 three-year-olds from the Isle of Wight between 1999 and 2000. The children drank fruit juice containing 20mg in total of artificial colourings and 45mg of preservative for two weeks. They drank a placebo fruit juice for another two weeks. Many parents reported significant changes in behaviour. The additives tested were the artificial food colourings Tartrazine (E102), Sunset Yellow (E110), Carmoisine (E122), and Ponceau 4R (E124), and the preservative Sodium Benzoate (E211).
A spokeswoman for the Food and Drink Federation said yesterday that independent medical experts had told it that the reasearch was inconclusive and that more than one study was needed.
The Food Standards Agency, which inherited the research from the old Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, said that although the findings were in line with reports by other organisations, independent medical and scientific experts agreed that the evidence and conclusions were not conclusive. “It still remains an area of significant scientific uncertainty,” it said.
David Berney, founder of the Green Machine, an additive-free vending system for schools, hailed the publication of the research as “a vindication of our stance.”
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