A “Peep” into Artificial Colors and Corn Syrup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring is here, and with it comes one of the most recognizable candy confections to grace the supermarket shelves…Marshmallow Peeps.  Those little pastel colored puffs of artificial flavor fill many Easter baskets and young tummies each year.  But perhaps it’s time to consider what those little bunnies and chicks are actually made of.  As we discussed last week, it’s also important to recognize artificial colors and their suspected effect on children.  The pink Marshmallow Peeps are colored with Red 3, which according to Ruth Winter, M.S. in her book A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives, “in 1996…was found to be a cancer-causing additive and may contribute to breast cancer.”   Apparently, according to the same book, the FDA has considered removing Red 3 as an optional food colorant, but has yet to do so. What are they waiting for? (more…)

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Dinner and Dye – No More Red 3 or Red 40

Food dye.  Well there’s the big red-blue-yellow and pink elephant in the room.  Artificial food dyes are currently headliners on our food related news. A couple weeks ago Frito Lay announced they plan to give a more natural makeover to some of their snack products like Lay’s flavored Potato Chips, Tostitos, Multigrain SunChips and Rold Gold Pretzels.  And a week later the FDA held hearings to evaluate a request to post warning labels on the labels of products containing these artificial colors.  You can read three pertinent news articles on these topics here: (more…)

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