But I don't think he eats too much of it.  We noticed about a year ago that Seth gets hives when he eats those gummy snacks.  Sure enough the Yellow food coloring is a known allergen in kids.  It's a pain to read the labels (which food coloring is in which one) so I just tell him to avoid it. He hates the rash, so it's an easy sell

I like the cleanness of this study - it's simple and clear!

DH's brother had bad reactions to a particular red dye (still in use, can't remember what it was) when he was young-- he'd get very hyperactive and emotional and defiant. Kudos to MIL for figuring it out (and this was 20+ years ago, when people were less likely to make those connections).

DS doesn't have a whole lot of food with artificial coloring. He used to do fruit snacks (Welch's, for some reason he didn't like the taste of the character-shaped snacks) but we limited it to one bag a day. Nowadays, aside from the occasional freezie pop, he eats "real food" 99% of the time. Regardless, I'm lucky that he seems to be immune to sugar highs and other food-related behavior issues.

Eli is the one who is particularly addicted to fruit snacks, but never got more than one to two packs a day.  Miles likes them, too as well as fruit punch, but he only ever gets that kind of drink outside the house as a treat.

Still, even just that little amount tends to affect them.  Now I am also wondering about their ice pops.  They don't seem to misbehave after eating those, but it could be that it's because they only eat them after dinner on a full stomach.

I was very skeptical about this one, I must admit.  

I seen people running around getting their kids all on these dye-free diets.  Which is totally fine, because heck, who needs any dyes, but I was not convinced of the hyperactivity link.

Do you know if they separated out the sugar effect from the dye effect?  I'm sure they did if it got published in Lancet?

I know the sugar link has been disproven but that one I really believe in.

has always been extremely sensitive to that red coloring that's put into processed, boxed foods.  Whatever it is, its what they use to make powdered mixes appear to have a "meat flavored" color.  Foods with this will give her a migraine-type headache every time she eats it.  I suppose as a child, this headache/general unwell feeling could have been viewed by others as a sort of attention deficit...

a red color that is a known allergen, but not marked on the label as such. I just posted a bit about food additives including colors that might be a good read, especially the link to the CSPI information.

I saw the picture (new to the post) and I was all giddy! Gambit! Storm! Are we talking comic books here!?! This IS the coolest site ever!

I'm such an old school comic book freak.

These are really one of my pet peeves.  It irritates me no end that they are called "fruit snacks" on the packet when what they really are is essentially candy (gummy bears) in a different shape.

I don't buy them, but my kids have run across them at occasions where other people buy snacks (for example after a soccer game).  They then see them in the grocery store and want them.  I suspect some parents buy them thinking they really are fruit snacks in some way.

Annoying!  Thanks for providing more fuel for me not to buy them (not that I needed any more).

IMHO. Jess has discovered gummy lollies (thanks, DH), and yeah, they make her absolutely gonzo in a way that chocolate and ice cream (on those rare occasions that she eats them) do not. DH sneaks her the lollies when he thinks I'm not looking, and every time, she goes nutty about 40 minutes after eating them. Last time I discovered he'd done it, I left the house and went for a run to let DH cope with the coming hurricane. Came back, and lo and behold, DH wanted a "serious talk" about whether Jess should be eating lollies because they make her crazy. Wow.

I'll definitely pay more attention to their behavior. I don't think my kids get too much artificial color--although I have been allowing more chips and such as part of an otherwise healthy (and homemade) lunch. The one that gets me is sodium benzoate. Everything here is chock full of the stuff, along with potassium sorbate--yoghurt/dairy, jams, even bread. I suppose it might be merited given that some very rural households might not have refrigeration, but it makes it hard for those few of us that don't want to eat the stuff.

I heard a scientific critique of this one on NPR on the way home.

Apparently, the study only found what might be a 10% difference in the behavior between the two groups. So, a no colors/preservatives diet might give you a 10% less hyperactive child, but that's only if your kid is actually sensitive to them (not all are).

The headlines aren't entirely accurate on this one! The academic they were talking to suggested that the appropriate headline would have been "A dye and preservative-free diet might decrease hyperactivity in some children."