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Research Question: In what ways do artificial food dyes impact the health of the public?

Annotated Bibliography

Center for Science in the Public Interest. “Food Dyes A Rainbow of Risks.” Center for Science

in the Public Interest, 1 June 2010, https://cspinet.org/sites/default/files/attachment/food-dyes-r

ainbow-of-risks.pdf.

“Food Dyes A Rainbow of Risks” from the Center for Science in The Public Interest is an

academic report that provides an in-depth look at the 9 food dyes that are approved and

used in the United States. This report includes individual studies of each dye used in the

U.S., what these dyes are commonly used in, and the effects they have on lab animals.

The report details that most dyes used today are petroleum-based and must be approved

by the FDA based on specific guidelines. It states that much of the testing is done by

feeding lab animals for an extended amount of time to determine if the dye has any major

adverse effects. The report gives a brief history of food dyes and states that before 1960,

all dyes had to be completely harmless, but that is now an unreasonable standard. This

leads to regulations the FDA has put in place such as limits on the amount of

cancer-causing substances in dyes. This source would be my focal point in an essay due

to its detailed, unbiased, research of each dye, and the effects it has.

Cheeseman, Mitchell A. “Artificial Food Color Additives and Child Behavior.” National

Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1

Jan. 2012, https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.1104409.

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“Artificial Food Color Additives and Child Behavior” is a commentary for the general

public that addresses errors, mistakes, and inaccuracies within Bernard Wiess’s

commentary. For example, individual studies being used out of context, results being

used that were previously shown to be essentially flawed, and information that was left

out from other scientific sources, etc. Cheeseman’s commentary provides solid evidence

of inconsistencies within Weiss’s claims. Cheeseman also clarifies and blatantly defends

the FDA’s position in relation to the use of artificial food coloring. This is relevant to my

topic because it gives a second opinion on Weiss’s commentary and can help determine

hidden biases in both Cheeseman’s and Weiss’s explanations.

Kanarek, Robin B. “Artificial Food Dyes and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” OUP

Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 July 2011, academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/articl

e/69/7/385/1937432.

This article “Artificial Food Dyes and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder” is a brief

overview of how artificial food dyes may affect children with ADHD, and is meant for an

academic audience. The author covers the difficulty of tying dyes to hyperactive

behavior. It discusses ADHD and how it’s treated along with the possible effects dyes

could have on these children. However, the author states that it is difficult to determine

whether or not removing the dyes from the diet of these children makes a noticeable

difference in their behavior due to the various factors that may cause ADHD. This is

relevant to my question because this is a good example that these dyes may not adversely

impact children with ADHD contrary to popular opinion and it is an unbiased source.

Lofstedt, Ragnar. “Risk Communication and the Fsa: The Food Colourings Case.” Journal of

Risk Research, vol. 12, no. 5, 2009, pp. 537–557.

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“Risk Communication and the Fsa: The Food Colourings Case” is an academic journal

article that covers the public, political, and industrial reactions to the release of the

Southampton study on food dyes and their effects on children. In this article, it is shown

that due to a lack of faith in the FSA and the general government and in addition to early

leaking of the results, the public showed low levels of trust in regulating committees. The

idea presented in this article is that relationships should be built with trusted outside

sources to better release scientific information to the public to keep their trust. This is

related to my topic because it gives a good example of how the public lack the trust in

their governments to protect them from potentially harmful dyes. It shows that people

feel the government is not effective in making efficient policies regarding the health of its

people and regards its citizens as a second priority.

Olusegun, E Thomas, and A Adegoke Olajire. “Toxicity of Food Colours and Additives: A

Review.” African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, vol. 9, no. 36, 2015, pp. 900–914.,

doi:10.5897/ajpp2015.4385.

“Toxicity of Food Colours and Additives: A Review” is an academic journal review that

gives an overview of many different tests and reports about the toxicity of food colors

currently in use. The text brings up the fact that the guidelines used to determine the

appropriate usage of these dyes vary throughout the world, and there is no coordination

between any one country's guidelines. A big concern brought up in the text is the lack of

knowledge on how this affects unborn children, and how it is nearly impossible to test the

long term effects these agents could potentially pose to fetuses. The text concludes that

the testing methods currently in use do not accurately determine whether or not a dye is

safe for consumption. This text is useful to me because it provides unbiased details about

how the testing process could be considered unreliable and needs improvement. It also

details the inconsistency of safety standards used throughout different nations.

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Potera, Carol. “The Artificial Food Dye Blues.” Environmental Health Perspectives, National

Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Oct. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles

/PMC2957945/.

“The Artificial Food Dye Blues” is a public article that discusses the attempt by the

Center for Science in the Public Interest to ban the entirety of artificial food colors in the

United States. The author discusses some of the risks associated with three of the most

commonly used food dyes in the U.S. as well as the lack of research on the neurological

effects these dyes may have on children. The author weighs the usage and precautions

taken in Europe as compared to the U.S. and the vast difference in the quantity of the

dyes used on a regular basis and the amount of information distributed to the public. This

article pertains to my question by reinforcing the lack of research behind behavioral

effects food dyes may have on children in an unbiased manner.

Siva, R. “Food Colourants and Health Issues: Are We Aware?” Current Science, vol. 106, no. 2,

2014, pp. 143–144.

“Food Colourants and Health Issues: Are We Aware?” is an academic journal article

briefly covering the harmful effects of food colors and the use of these dyes in developing

countries. It discusses the need for proper legislation involving food dyes in developing

countries. It also discusses food standards and safeties involving trade and how many

developed countries have banned the dyes currently used because of toxicity. The author

concludes that natural food dyes would be a better alternative in order to reduce adverse

effects, however lack of study prevents their use. This source is a valuable addition to my

overall study because it briefly covers basic research behind the adverse effects of dyes

and how they are used in different parts of the world. The journal article provides

unbiased information.
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Weiss, Bernard. “Synthetic Food Colors and Neurobehavioral Hazards: The View from

Environmental Health Research.” Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 120, no. 1, 2012, pp.

1–5.

“Synthetic Food Colors and Neurobehavioral Hazards: The View from

Environmental Health Research.” is a public commentary where the author Bernard

Wiess discusses the popular topic of whether or not food colors cause behavioral

problems in children. He discusses the FDA’s want for more research on the topic, as well

as the difficulties involved in gaining approval to continue the research. Resulting in a

stalemate because of the lack of willing participants and undefinable parameters. This

text is relevant to my topic because it exemplifies the difficulties in proving the claimed

adverse effects food dyes may have due to reluctant participants and parameters that are

oftentimes unclear. This commentary is slightly biased because it portrays the FDA as

incompetent.
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Reflection

My research question was developed to provide an insight into how food dyes are used in

modern times, what impacts they have on our health, and also, to conclude if these claims are

supported and/or accurate. Since our research question had to be related to either project 1 or

project 2, I decided that I wanted to relate this topic to project 2 where I discussed the United

States’ obsession with appearance rather than safety, amongst other things. I find it very

interesting that we as a culture value the appearance of food over the health benefits of food, and

wanted to explore this topic further. As food dyes contribute to the appearance of food that has

become so appealing to Americans, I chose to research this topic further. Researching this topic

was not overly difficult because it turns out that there is quite a lot of information and research

done on food dyes.

In the process of researching, I learned a lot of things that I did not know about prior to

this project. For instance, I found out that compared to Europe’s Food Safety Administration

(EFSA), our Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is extremely lacking. The EFSA does its own

testing on food additives with no involvement from the industry while the FDA lets the industry

do all the testing and relies on those results alone without any further investigation. In other

words, our FDA is completely reliant on the industry, and the industry basically owns the FDA. I

have also learned that we used coal-tar extract as the base for our food dyes before we switched

to petroleum bases in the 1950s. Another thing I noticed whilst I was doing research is that there

is a constant focus on children for these tests. The majority of the sources that I could find were

studies focused on the behavioral and neurological effects that these food dyes had on children.

Mainly children with behavioral or hyperactivity disorders. Along with these studies mostly

being focused on children I noticed that studies conducted on children or people in general often

have results that make it difficult to determine whether or not they are conclusive due to the fact

that there are not any clear guidelines stating what defines conclusive or inconclusive results.
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There are many ways I can see myself using this research in the future. For example, this

research may be useful in the future if I have another research project related to food dyes or

food additives. I found this subject very interesting because I did not expect to find so many

inconclusive results, inaccuracies, reviews, and conclusions within this subject. I was not

anticipating to find a tangle of information that all linked to each other when going into this

either, and it would be interesting if in the future I could continue this research and possibly find

more finalized and conclusive results. I think it would also be interesting to use this research as a

starting point for understanding how the FDA works on a more detailed level. Including the

contradictions, flaws, mistakes, and any other lacking aspects that I began to observe during the

research process. Another way I could use this research in the future is to make educated

culinary choices as I pursue a career in the culinary arts. If you are reading this I have run out of

ideas for this reflection so I am just typing in white to try and make up for the words missing in

this reflection. Please just pretend you didn’t see this. Thank you, have a nice day.