There has always been a push by the people and our government to make our food healthier, and it seems that this recent idea for a ban is based on that goal. This time around, the ban is for something that many of us have likely discarded as being harmless when it could be the cause of many health risks down the line for children and adults alike.
The main purpose of most food dyes is to provide color to certain foods that wouldn’t have any color otherwise. These dyes are usually put into candy, desserts, and other sweets to give them a more appealing look. Most dyes are made synthetically in labs, with only a small amount of them being derived from natural ingredients.
Their intended purpose is harmless, but research suggests that their unintended consequences are far from harmless. Links have been made to suggest that certain food dyes are responsible for many health problems in children, like hyperactivity, colon damage, decreased immune systems, and even cancer. Though nothing has been confirmed on how likely these effects are, it still raises concerns. The effects these dyes have are somewhat dependent on the type of dye, with red dye 40 being responsible for allergic reactions, while yellow 5 has been deemed safe by the FDA.
Understandably, many food companies are hesitant to halt production of their products to fix this issue. While this ban might affect them in their wallets, it’s easy to see that preventing harm to consumers is more important than having red-colored Skittles. In the end, it would simply be safer to just ban these harmful dyes.
