The dark side of food coloring

You must have gone to a child’s birthday party and come across a wonderful table, with cakes, sweets and cupcakes featuring a variety of lush colors! The dyes present in these foods fulfill their role well: they attract people’s attention for their beauty and especially please children. However, they can be very bad for your health. Some studies have even shown that some of them are linked to hyperactivity disorders and cases of cancer.

“Artificial dyes, when consumed frequently, can harm a person’s skin, causing allergies, irritating the stomach lining and causing respiratory problems. These additives can also interfere with the body’s metabolic process”, highlights nutritionist Sabrina Lopes.

Although artificially colored foods are more attractive to children, their ills also extend to adults. And so they should be avoided by the whole family!

“Artificial dyes can be harmful to both children’s health and adults’ health, when consumed in excess”, says nutritionist Sabrina. “We consume a lot of food coloring without realizing it, as it serves to beautify food. Just think of an example: consuming a clear strawberry jello would not be as appealing as eating a red strawberry jello,” she explains.

Where are dyes present?

Artificial dyes are not only present on occasional occasions, such as weekend parties. Well, if that were the case, it wouldn’t be so much of a problem to consume them with caution, now and then.

“The dyes are found in most industrialized products, such as candies, sweets, cookies, jellies, ice cream, cakes, soft drinks, juices, yogurts, shakes and others”, highlights nutritionist Sabrina.

Danger in disguise

While the names of dyes are meaningless to most people, their negative effects may not go unnoticed (in the long run, if the products are consumed in excess). It is worth paying attention and trying to escape these substances!

“Some artificial dyes are allowed in Brazil, such as tartrazine yellow and twilight yellow, brilliant blue and indigotine blue, and bordeaux red or amaranth, erythrosine red, red 40 and ponceau 4R”, explains Sabrina. But that doesn’t mean they can be part of a diet without posing risks to the person’s health.

The tip, then, is to maintain a diet as natural as possible. In the refrigerator, ice cream and yogurts should make room for the fruits and juices extracted from them. In the case of houses with children, it is always necessary to remember that the children follow the examples of their parents, so care with food should apply to the whole family.

The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only. They do not replace the advice and follow-up of doctors, nutritionists, psychologists, physical education professionals and other specialists.