"Additives/colourings in food make children hyper"

[earlgrey]

Erm, .... can someone tell me exactly why this is news?

I agree with McEdam. Although it seems blindingly obvious that eating crap is detrimental to well-being, unfortunately for action to be taken to prevent people who profit from peddling this crap, hard scientific evidence is required. Noone is profitting from saying that the sky is purple or that you don't get wet in the rain, but they are from selling junk food to kids.

Tbh, I don't understand why they don't just ban these additives, from children's food at least but preferably from all food. They aren't a required part of the human diet and given there is evidence they do cause harm, why not just get rid?

Actually I do understand. Because food manufacturing is a powerful industry and the FSA has to bend over backwards to be fair and can't move a muscle without hard evidence. So sod children. They've been trying to come up with some methodology for testing vitamin supplements that is acceptable to industry for more than three years. Manufacturers won't agree to anything ? clearly, it's not in their interest. So we have no way of knowing what food supplements actually contain.

everychocolate - Im really sorry! I thought you were being sarcastic!
Oh well, it is good to know that I am not the only person who loathes msg. I only let my children have flavoured crisps about once a year - do you think they will grow up damaged

sorry every I though you were being provocative. I doubt your child will be damaged from eating a single crisp that has msg in it! Did you know that vietnamese people use msg like salt on their food? I was quite surprised when working with some, to see that they used to sprinkle it on their food. They reckon it is good for them and better than salt. I presume they give it to their children too and they are not over represented in hospital wards, nor are their parents. Not saying it's safe, but I find it interesting I suppose.

Unfortunately many people do not realise how common these additives are MSG is almost omniprescent anything a bit savoury may have it (from crisps to chicken cubes)

they are band in products aimed at under threes

msg reacts badly with sunset yellow so the two combined very bad, scotch eggs, nuggets, yellow and orange crisps and many yellow and orange coloured savoury and breaded items

I wouldn't disagree, McEdam, about the research being helpful - the wonder is why it wasn't carried out 20yrs ago.

Re breaded products, dh reminded me yesterday that ds2 used to go ape most Friday evenings. We eventually twigged that he was reacting to the fishfingers we frequently had on a Fri.

So it wasn't merely that friday feeling?

Dh and I had a sinking-of-the-heart Friday feeling until we figured out what was setting ds off!!

i have literally just looked up a list of E numbers. On that list 31 are in use in the UK but banned in other countries and an astonishing 49 possibly 52 are not recommended fror consumption by children. tartrazine (which i spotted by skimming the trhead) is one of them.

in fact 210,211,212,213,214,215 are all found to be of particlaur cause for concern when mixed with 102 (tartrazine)

sue, I looked up the research that was being done 20 years ago. unfortunately, the waters were being muddied by studies that removed food colourings from childrens diets, but used, for example, chocolate as a control food. Also, they werent removing all additives, only selected ones.

We struggled, 20+yrs ago, NightyN, with severely asthmatic ds2. With no internet to easily check things out we had to wing it. There was a book issued around that time about E-numbers which was about the first time such things figured on my radar.

Luckily we had a helpful HV (there are a few, lol!) who believed what we told her and she guided us through putting ds2 on an exclusion diet, starting off with a diet of lamb, rice and pears and gradually adding in foodstuffs. It didn't point up any particular foods but the additives and msg were a trigger. Back then, it was so hard to buy anything without additives, at least today organic etc stuff is more freely available.

we were also avoiding additives, a bit earlier (brother was a classic HA child), in the early 80s! It was difficult, wasnt it.

What's HA, Nighty? Ds started with asthma and hissy fits in 1983. I even used to make my own baked beans - vast cauldrons of them, lol!

80s speak for ahds (?)
out went angel delight, tinned sausages, sweets....