I've talked to lots of people who find it so much effort to avoid the food dyes, they just give up. We've found lots of great substitutes.
Drinks: we only do 100% juice or Capri Sun. We often do water at restaurants as lemonade and punch are always loaded. Kroger recently started carrying organic lemonade.
Macaroni and cheese: Kraft has a white cheddar and so does Kroger. We get the Kroger one and the sauce needs a little more mixing than the regular stuff, but my kids like it better than the yellow stuff.
Breakfast foods: we make our own pancakes and freeze extras for quick meals on school days. Tip: Most eggo brands have yellow dye. Most Kroger brand waffles are dye free.
Yogurt: Yoplait is usually dye free. We skip all the Gogurts, Yogos, etc (more sugar and dyes added than good stuff)
Popcorn: Orville Redenbocker and Kroger have natural brands that skip the yellow. It took me months and months to figure out microwave popcorn was a culprit for hidden dye.
Fruit snacks: Motts/Brachs has a dye free fruit chew (my kids still seems to bounce more after eating them, probably due to all the corn syrup). We really like FruitABu brand fruit snacks (health food section of Kroger) They have lots of organic fruit leather individually wrapped type snacks.
Chips and snacks: We skip Doritos and cheesey anything like popcorn or Cheetos. Plain chips and pretzels are usually safe. Kroger brand has a barbecue chip that is free of dyes, so are a few others if you like the flavor but not the petroleum.
Breakfast Cereal: We do Rice Crispies, Cheerios, Crispex, Chex. We splurge sometimes on Organic Wild Puffs (again in the Kroger health food section) Its actually fruity and colorful but from natural ingredients.
Candy: My kids love Yummy Earth candies and lollipops. They taste great, but I've only found them at the health food store. I keep them in my purse so any time someone offers us regular candy like DumDums, I decline and hand the kids my organic stuff. I also gave a bag to each teacher so my kids have safe candy at school.
Basically, we check out the natural food section at Kroger before shopping in the regular part of the store. I'm partial to that store as my husband works in the corporate office (designs their web stuff) and we get nice discounts. I also have a color coded list of what to avoid and what to pick instead. It's in a table so I couldn't find an easy way to post it here. Email me at fooddyediaries@gmail.com and I'll forward it to anyone interested.
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7 comments:
Thanks for the tips on some dye free products! Will definitely make shopping for some of those easier!
Hi Erika, My freind just found white M&Ms at Meijer that do not have any food coloring. I told her to post a comment after her kids eat them and see for sure that they don't cause any reactions.
Your story sounds just like mine. I noticed the link when my son was 3 and he was put on an allergy medication that was red. He was a complete terror and even started biting me. After that, I noticed it was Red 40 that caused hyperactivity (not just the medication) and soon realized I would need to cut out the yellows as well. We now have NO artificial colorings, and limit corn syrup since in large amounts it has a similar effect. Thanks for posting your story. I hope it helps to get he word out for all our our children! All the best!
KK
KK,
Thanks for your story and please encourage anyone else who is interested check out my blog to learn more about the effects of dye.
Laurie
I have been going through the same thing for many years with my children. My blog is reddyefree.blogspot.com. I am new to blogging and like you I wanted to do something to advocate for our children. We will make a difference! :)
Keep up the great work!
trying to make a connection between my son's sporadic anger/combative issues...possibly a stress disorder...could be foods that are affecting him...it's like a roller coaster-bouts of ups followed by bouts of downs...gonna try this dye thing and see if it affects him at all.
Hey just wanted to expand your horizon on red dye allerges. My names Joe and My mother discovered my red dye allergy when I was 3 at my day care because of the red fruit punch they served. My reaction to RedDye is unlike any other persons as far as I know. When I injest anything with Red Dye, Caramel Color (Distuised phrase for Red) Barley Malt, "Color Added", or Vanilla Extract (cheap Vanilla Extract contains Caramel Color), or even cheap meat. I experience Debilitating Migraines which have progressively gotten worse over time. Im at the point where when I get one Im usually carried into the ER and taken in. The scary part is that sometimes I will lose control of my legs and"forget"f how to walk. All I need to stop the attack that bad is an IV of Benedryl, Anti-Nausea, and Morphine. Its to the point where my last visit in the Dr.'s not beleiving me and making me sit there for a good 11 hrs before giving me an IV. They told me since I'd been there more than 12 times within the last yr hey wont treat me again. The other local hospital did the same as well. So now I haee to travel 40-45 mins to the next hospital which during an attack feel like forever.
Just wanted to share that to see if anyone else may have a similar reaction.
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