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Northern California Babies
PSA: Red Dye #40
Yesterday was a super stressful day for me. Grey was just *not* himself. He started crying and being pissy the moment he woke up and it just got worse all day. Screaming/crying in a restaurant, Running off in the parking lot then screaming and kicking when i picked him up to take him to the car. When we got home nothing made him happy and he cried/had tantrums for nearly 4 hours. He was being so irrational. I took a bath to try to relax while leaving daddy in charge and when i got out he threw another tantrum because he wanted me to have another bath.Anyone who knows G knows that he is usually really mellow. Of course he has tantrums and difficulties like any 3 year old, but this was insane.
It didn't feel like G was just having a bad day or being sensitive. It was like his personality had completely changed. It was scary!
I posted about it on facebook and a friend suggested that he might have an intolerance to Red Dye #40. Most of the food that we buy is all natural, has no dyes, so he definitely is not exposed to food dyes often.
Lo and behold, the night before he had had gummy worms as a treat (because I was craving them) which contained both Red #40 and Yellow #5.
I did some googling and found a ton of stories from mom's who have kids that are sensitive to Red #40. Their descriptions of the behaviour problems that they have when their child has foods with this dye in it were just like I had experienced. It was scary how similar the stories were.
Today I have my sweet, mellow little boy back. I am SO thankful that my friend made that suggestion so that I can now avoid the food additive! So, I just wanted to pass the info on. Thanks for reading and sorry to be so long winded!
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Re: PSA: Red Dye #40
Interesting!
Just to play devil's advocate, do you think maybe Grey was just having a bad day?
The only reason I was wondering it that it seems like it would take more than a day or so for the additive to get out of his system. I know with dairy, I had to give it more than 2 weeks to get out of my system to see if it would cause any change in Riley.
From the stories that I read the change from eliminating the Red #40 from the diets of children happens very quickly. just a couple of days. And these were kids that consumed more of it and on a regular basis. Based on this, I would assume that it leaves the system pretty quickly. He had the gummy worms saturday night, was a monster on sunday and then fine again today.
The Blog | BirthbyKellyM
Photo by Zemya Photography
Interesting, I would have thought the same as Rachel that it would take a few days to get out of your system. Although sugar alone can make people act in different ways, so maybe it was also the sugar since sugar is not something he has often? Does he act this way when he has had cupcakes at parties? I think Red Dye is also in cake mixes, frostings (vanilla so not even red) ..
Red#40 is a mess. I really can't believe that still use it in foods because so many kids (and adults) are sensitive to it.
The preservative/emulsifier polysorbate 80 -- often in pickles, ice cream and other things (including Gardisil) -- is a hot mess too. It causes hormonal problems, including infertility.
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Harmony Doula
I, too, have that sensitivity. It's like speed for me. So I indulge in moderation. But sometimes a girl just needs gummy worms.
FWIW - red m&ms do NOT effect me. (in case you don't feel like sorting for G)
I remember my older brother having a sensitivity to red food coloring when we were little (in the mid-70s). I got to eat all his red suckers at the doctors office.
And I think DS has one too. I try not to give him things with food coloring in them except as rare treats (his birthday party, etc). When he had the slushee last week (from Gramma), he wasn't really angry, but just could not sleep. Turns out it was a blue one so I'm not sure if it had red dye in it. But I'm going to avoid artificial coloring in his food from here on out anyway.
He has sugar much more often than he has red food dye. We have muffins often. He has chocolate milk on occasion. Sugar has never effected him in this way.
The Blog | BirthbyKellyM
NorCalMOMS bio* NorCalBOTB* babywearingBIO
Harmony Doula
That is interesting! I guess i'd rather eat a bug than a toxic chemical. I mean, i'm not vegan...I eat animal products so why should a bug be much different than milk or cheese?
The Blog | BirthbyKellyM
There are yogurts that use this for their coloring, too. Yummy.