According to new research conducted by Dr Jim Stevenson at the University of Southampton in Britain, certain food additives cause hyperactivity in children.
The study Dr Stevenson conducted involved 153 three-year-olds and 144 eight-year-olds. The children were selected at random and were not screened for any previous behavioural problems or known sensitivities to particular foods.
The children’s families were then asked to give the children a drink each day which either contained food colorings and artificial preservatives (including sunset yellow, carmiosine, tartrazine and ponceau 4R with the preservative sodium benzoate) or a placebo. The children were then observed by teachers and parents for any behavioural changes.
The researchers concluded that the children who drank the cocktail of dyes and preservatives from both age groups were less well behaved than those who had been downing the placebo. Some parents noticed changes in behaviour when their children drank both the additives and the placebo, while others saw behaviour deteriorate with the placebo but not the additives. The work was published in the September 6th issue of the Lancet.
On September 10th the British government agency responsible for food safety—which funded the study—revised its guidelines in response to the study. It recommends that people who show signs of hyperactivity should cut down on consumption of artificial colors. In Europe, there is a planned review of the safety of all food colorings currently in use.
Food Additives Cause Hyperactivity
by Ben Harborne