Tests on more than 300 children showed significant differences in their behavior when they drank fruit drinks spiked with a mixture of food colorings and preservatives, Jim Stevenson and colleagues at the University of Southampton said.

"These findings show that adverse effects are not just seen in children with extreme hyperactivity (such as ADHD) but can also be seen in the general population and across the range of severities of hyperactivity," the researchers wrote in their study, published in the Lancet medical journal.

In our household, with an admittedly smaller statistical sample, I have noted the same thing.  The biggest culprit for us is fruit snacks, which come in oh-so-many delightful shapes based on hundreds of cartoon characters.  I have usually allowed these as the only empty caloried, high fructose corn syrup filled goody in the house, but recently I saw a real difference in the kids' behavior during weeks when I've forgotten to pick them up at the grocery store.  This week, I "forgot" them again, and it's amazing how much better their behavior is.  The same is true when I get them water instead of fruit punch at the movie theatre.

The[additives tested] included sunset yellow coloring, also known as E110; carmoisine, or E122; tartrazine, or E102; ponceau 4R, or E124; the preservative sodium benzoate, or E211; and other colors.

This was a British study, so they used the British versions of these substances, but I'd bet money the results would be the same in the States.

So, MotherTalkers -- I've decided to take a stand at home.  The difference is too stark for me to ignore.  We are banning the fruit snacks and Hi-C!  

Have you noticed behavioral changes based on food intake in your kids?  How so?