Do artificial colours affect students too?

You may have spotted the front page coverage this week about the potentially harmful effect of some food colourings and preservatives on children. It followed a study undertaken by Southampton University which suggests that consuming artificial food colours together with the preservative sodium benzoate may be linked to hyperactive behaviour and inability to concentrate. The study looked specifically at young children and re-enforces the experience that many parents have experienced at first hand.

As far back as the 1960’s Ben Feingold, a US doctor, was advocating the avoidance of certain food colourings and preservatives in an attempt to address hyperactivity. Feingold also noted that many of his older patients presented allergy-like symptoms which improved on elimination of these additives from their diet. Although this recent report may not be telling us anything new it is still important because it raises our awareness of the potential problems and makes us aware of the effect of what we eat on our own health and well-being.

While there’s no hard evidence to link these effects with older teens and adults it’s worth getting into the habit of checking labels when you choose soft drinks, confectionery and ice-cream, particularly if you’re conscious of past mood changes when you have eaten them. Popular student drinks like Iron Bru and brightly coloured sweets like Tic Tacs and Jelly Belly gourmet jelly beans are examples of products that contain some of the additives that were highlighted in the study (full list below).

The study also looked at the preservative Sodium benzoate (E211) which is commonly found in drinks (including Diet Coke),  jams, fruit juices, meat products and sauces such as soy sauce. Interestingly, sodium benzoate is a naturally occurring salt found in fruits such as apples. In my clinic I have seen hyperactive children with strong cravings for deceptively “healthy” drinks such as apple juice. In fact one extreme case was a 9 year old boy who drank nothing but apple juice!

Interestingly many of these additives have already been restricted in the US, Denmark and Norway. It now looks, following a speech by Gordon Brown yesterday, that there may be Government pressure to ban them here. Supermarkets are also (rather belatedly) saying they will remove them from their own brands.

They may not affect you in the same way as a small child but having a cocktail of different additives and preservatives in your body is not going to do you any good. So do check for the E numbers below or, if you can’t remember them, just avoid artifically coloured food and drinks.

Suspect colourings and preservatives to avoid

Sunset yellow (E110)
Quinoline yellow (E104)
Carmoisine (E122)
Allura red (E129)
Tartrazine (E102)
Ponceau 4R (E124)
Sodium Benzoate (E220)

For more information look at the Food Standards Authority website www.foodstandards.gov.uk