I think about it every time I go shopping or eat at a restaurant. My husband is allergic to red food dye; his hands, mouth, and eyes can puff up alarmingly. Worse, it's not just in red foods. Red is used to make some other colours more dramatic, a fact we discovered after he had a green Gatorade and had a reaction. Food colouring isn't necessary for nutrition or even aesthetics. Unnaturally coloured foods could disappear tomorrow, and we'd still all eat well, just with fewer chemicals.

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My oldest daughter has MASSIVE hebavior problems when she gets anything with RED 40 in it. We check everything now. The behavior is so far out of character for her. When she gets something with red40, it is like she becomes another child; angry, aggressive, and out of control. Now that she isn't getting any, she is my sweet, caring, happy child that is exceptionally patient and calm. And we can tell within a hour when she HAS eaten something with red 40. www.red40.com has a list of the majority of foods, drinks, and medications that contain this dye. T

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Most of us buy according to sight. Look at the recent articles on slashfood that deal with advertisement. Motor oil is put on pancakes because it makes it prettier, glue instead of milk. The brighter packaging and colors in our food is what sells. Maybe if we had unapatizing pictures we wouldn't have to search for diet foods. We would be turned off by sight. Fact is, sometimes the packaging would taste better than the product. You say you don't think about color and dye's when you buy but you really do, just not in the terms of misbehavior.

Also, my sister keeps her youngest away from anything that is colored red. There is a huge difference in her personality when she does manage to get something using red dye.

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Ah, the Food Police in action. If you are allergic to something, avoid it. I admit that sometimes finding out what you are allergic to can be difficult, but if we banned everything that people are allergic to, there would be no food (think shrimp, wheat, eggs, even chicken). Parents should cook real food for their children, not assume that laws will sanitize the whole world of pre-packaged foods for their child.

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I say get rid of em, its extra volume and or weight in our food of no nutritional value.

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In many instances there is no point to colouring in food. As a youth, I remember finding out that cheddar cheese wasn't really orange and wondering what the point was of buying orange cheese was. I've been anti-orange cheese ever since. It's true that people buy based on aesthetics but people wouldn't stop buying food completely if it was coloured. In fact, buying foods without coloring could become trendy.

Despite my aversion to food dyes and my concern with health I wonder if a ban would be going too far, and if education is the step that should be taken.

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It's not just food dyes that are risky, many food additives have dubious approvals by the FDA, and even some that other agencies say should NOT be approved are allowed. You can read more about it here:
http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/02/12/so-whats-in-that-happy-meal-besides-the-cheap-toy/

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I'm allergic to MSG and as I get older (im only 16 >__

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Perhaps it's not the dyes that are making children bonkers but the fact that most foods with a plethora of dyes are processed and packaged...to me that seems more like a link to behavior than a dye, but you never know.

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The only problem I have with Red #40 is that I used to be violently allergic to it as a kid. I grew out of it after I turned 12 or so, but even a single red M&M would make me barf spectacularly

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Absolutely - ban them all! All artificial food coloring is pure poison to some people, adults as well as kids. And why not use natural coloring such as beet juice, etc. if need be? From my own experience of dealing with some newly discovered sensitivities (especially dyes) that went undiagnosed for several years, I am a firm believer that many people have health issues that could very well be directly related to consuming foods tainted with a number of artificial ingredients, including dyes. These chemicals are commonly used in so many food products that we usually don't even pay attention to it. I am an adult who had suffered with a good many symptoms, i.e. rashes, hair brittleness, edema, eye infections, asthma, and recurrent bladder infections, to name just a few. To make a long story short, I completely discarded ALL products (including cosmetic items, such as shampoos, lotions, make-up, toothpaste, etc.) containing artificial colors after discovering they're usually derived from crude oil and/or coal tar - yech...and within the first two days, there was an unbelieveable improvement in how I looked and felt. Within just a few months, all of my symptoms were basically gone. I had been dealing with many of these health issues for over 15 years, until I finally found a great physician who helped me figure out that I was extremely sensitive to artificial coloring and other chemicals. It's only a matter of time now before people realize how these chemicals are causing a lot more health harm to people of all ages. For those who are doubtful, for starters google the words red dye & breast cancer - you'll find some very eye-opening information on the subject.

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Don't ban food dyes.

If you want to avoid them, then do. We have enough laws and the prospect of adding more on to the pile that'll make food look less attractive is heartbreaking.

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