Friday, April 10, 2009

Food dyes and Easter

I have not looked into dye free Easter candy much this year as one of my children is on a pretty strict "sugar free" diet. We are going to do more stickers, tatoos and small trinkets for Easter baskets and eggs. The last few years I've filled eggs with things like plastic soldiers, plastic butterflies, etc. If you want jelly beans, Jelly Belly and Surf Sweet brands both have some dye free jelly beans. We'll stick mostly to chocolate. Watch out for the inexpensive foil wrapped chocolates as they sometimes contain red #40 if they don't contain much of the real chocolate. You are pretty safe if you stick to known brands like Hershey, Dove, etc.


I think I'm skipping the coloring of eggs, unless I can find some kind of kit with stickers and decorations rather than dyes. I'm thinking my boys' contact with eggs at school has them both reacting somewhat today. I've been wondering if skin contact is a problem, now I may have my answer. I think my kids react to skin contact with artificial colors as well as eating it. I've been getting the dyes out of lotions, tooth paste, shampoos, etc.

We're also on day 3 of the shrieks and screams after Lindsey came home from preschool telling me she ate a blueberry muffin. The staff clarified that it was put on her plate but quickly replaced by her organic blueberry cereal bar that I provide. Well, if she even nibbled at the fake blueberries or if it rubbed off on her plate onto her food, then it doesn't really matter. She might as well have eaten the whole thing. She's reacting like she did. It's so sad to see my sweet, affectionate child turn into a little maniac for a few days. It should run it's course tonight.

I've also had a few more requests for my list of dye free foods this week. I am still willing to send that out if anyone is interested. When I have tried to post it, the table doesn't copy over and it gets all messed up. So, I just email it to anyone who asks. I want as many people as possible to know about food dyes and be able to avoid them. It still stuns me that this is not common knowledge to most people.

I think many doctors do families a huge dis-service by prescribing medication to children with behavior problems and not ever telling the parents that they may be able to fix the problem just by making some simple dietary changes. The problem is that it is sooooo hard to be consistent in avoiding dyes that many mom's I've talked to are reluctant to even try it. I wish other moms could see for even a few days how much smoother life goes when kids don't have dyes in their systems

8 comments:

Kara said...

My daughter is getting candy from Whole Foods - mostly Sun Drops and Jolly Beans - as well as a few things like organic animal crackers and yogurt-covered pretzels. That's how we're bypassing dyes this Easter! I didn't even want to try to read all the labels at the grocery store, so I figured Whole Foods would help me out.

Tiffany Rieder said...

Please send me your list of foods without food dyes. My son has had hives on and off for the last 5 days and eah day he has had candy. He has been having hives since he was about three and I think I have finally made the connection. Several Pediatricians told me his hives were virus related but I just wasn`t convinced. He has no ther symptoms but hives and itchiness. He is realy active and sometimes I wonder if we have been unknowinlgy poisoning him for the last 2 years. Today we have removed all candy from his possesion and are only allowing him the real chocolate that he received from relatives. We officially started his dye free diet as of yesterday and I would like his little 5 year old life to included a little candy. If you click on my name leave a comment in my most recent post or email me at tiffanyrieder"symaptico.ca if you have a minute thanks! the " is a at which my keyboard will not let me type

Teri Barlow said...

It is so awesome to see others who experience the same thing. Do you know where to find an ingredient list for jelly bellys, specifically cream soda and coconut. MIL got those because she thinks/thought that being white means/meant no dye. I however am seeing blue dye type reaction in my 3.5 yo. Please send me your food list at teribarlow@kc.rr.com

food dye diaries said...

Teri,
I recall my son reacting once to a few white jelly beans. I have noticed that if it comes from a bag with other colored items, even if it is white, it still has traces of dyes on it. I have seen reactions from clear or white Dum Dums. The company confirmed when I wrote to them that all their candy goes through the same equipment. You may want to check out my other posts about the dyes in vanilla frotings and other products that look white.

Becky said...

Please send me a copy of your dye free foods list. I have just recently been hearing about removing dyes from our diet and I am interested to try. Your blog has helped me feel like this is definitely something I can do - thanks for sharing your experiences. My e-mail is busyboys4Becky@gmail.com

Stacey said...

Hi, I just came along your blog when researching food dye and my sons behavior. He is a sweet 4 yr old boy, but is having huge problems at school with his behavior...at home we have it under control. I would be interested in your foods without food dye list and any advice you can share! My email is staceybonnett@gmail.com

Thank you so much!

food dye diaries said...

Yes, I'll send my list to anyone who is interested. If you do not want to publish your email so publicly, you can go to my profile and click on "email me"

Patty H said...

I am new to this but would love a list of your food emailed to me....thank you for your help.....fiercer@aol.com