Monday, April 22, 2013

Clearing out the Coloring

My first step to livin' clean(er): Clearing out the Coloring!


When I first decided to make a change for my family, the first thing to go was food coloring and anything with artificial colors. That meant getting rid of all of my pretty cake/cookie decorating toppings and icings. This was probably one of the easier things to eliminate from our diet because we aren't really a big sweets family. They were reserved for special occasions, and since those are only a few times a year, we haven't really missed it. To the left is a picture of the stuff I got rid of. My mother-in-law was happy to take these off my hands. And even though I would prefer no one use them, not everyone shares my new found passion for ridding their pantry of things like food coloring. 

One of the things that was a little annoying to get rid of was my daughter's multivitamins. And to be 100% honest, I didn't get rid of them. I am taking them (those things were expensive!) Obviously I care more about my kids health than my own (and what mom does't) so I took one for the team and bought them some new gummy vitamins at CVS with no artificial colors.

Here are some of the things that Food Coloring has been linked to:




  • Blue #2

    Increases the incidence of tumors in lab rats.
  • Citrus Red #2
    It is toxic to lab rats and can cause tumors in the bladder and other organs. This food coloring is used on oranges to make them appear more vibrant in color! All the more reason to buy organic!!
  • Green #3

    Increased the chances of bladder and testes tumors in male lab rats.
  • Red #3
  • In 1990 the FDA banned this in cosmetics because it was recognized as a thyroid carcinogen in animals, BUT it is still allowed in our food. Not sure how that makes sense "Hey don't put this on your skin, it causes cancer, but sure ingest it, I am sure it is safe for your insides" Come on FDA, do your job and protect Americans.




  • Red #40 

    Has been shown to accelerate the appearance of tumors in lab mice. It can also cause allergy like reactions in some, and hyperactivity in some children. This artificial color is highly used in foods and cosmetics.
  • Yellow #5

    Can cause sever hypersensitivity and hyperactivity and other behavioral effect in children.
    This is a big one for those with kids with "ADD" or "ADHD." I put those in quotes because I am not sure if all the kids diagnosed really have these disorders or are reacting to the crap we unknowingly put in their little bodies. And instead of a doctor saying "hey lets try to eliminate some things from your child's diet and see if that helps your situation" they pull out their prescription pad and pump our kids full of more chemicals.  
  • Yellow #6

    Caused tumors in the adrenal glands in lab animals. It can also cause sever hypersensitivity in children.

    So your best bet, just pull the food coloring out of your families diet as soon as possible. I understand that many of you have a ton of things that have food coloring in them and can't afford to throw it all away and start from scratch. In that case, my recommendation is to just not replace it with more crap when you consume the crap you already have. So when you are finally out of that box of Kraft Mac & Cheese, don't buy another one. Learn to make it from scratch (which is super easy and healthier anyway) and when you go to the store buy the real food items instead of that box of stuff. That's the way I am making my change, one day at a time.
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