Sunday, November 7, 2010

Update of my favorite dye free foods: candy

In case you are new to my blog I have to break it to you. It's not just the sugar that is making your child act "that way." It's the coloring. REALLY! Don't just take my word for it. Look at all the research articles I've found on the right hand column. Food coloring causes all kinds of behavior problems and even serious health problems in some people. Moms have written to me from all over the country describing hyperactivity, asthma, motor tics, hives and other issues that are probably diet related.

So you think you don't have time to read labels and go dye free? I didn't have time not to do that. I've learned the well being of my family depends on eating real foods, not chemicals. Sure my grocery trips are a little longer and I go to different stores to get some things, but I spend most of my days in peace with my children, a gift I will never give up. We will never go back to the way my kids were when they ate food dyes. My son yelled, screamed, tantrummed and literally spent several days each week hating me. Going natural has given back the kind, thoughtful, responsible, affectionate boy I had hoped he would be.

We have found many great tasting candies that are all natural, without dyes. Although most chocolates do not have food coloring listed, be aware that chocolate often contains artificial flavor or vanillin, which is also petroleum based, so it can have the same effect as the food dyes.

Here are some of our favorites:

TRADER JOES:
  • Fruit Jellies
  • Salt Water Taffy
  • Gummy Bears
  • Gummy Tummies Penguins
  • Gourmet Jelly Beans
  • many more in the store

SURF SWEETS: (I go to the health food store for these)

  • Sour Gummy worms
  • Gummy Bears
  • Gummy Swirls

YUMMY EARTH: (We buy from the health food store or on Amazon)

  • Lollipops --lots of great flavors I keep these in my purse
  • Gummy bears in individual packs

TARGET:

  • Darrell Lea Strawberry Liquorice (yes, you can still eat red licorice!!!)

AUNT ANNIES BRAND (find it at Kroger, Toys R us, health food stores, etc.

  • Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks (Individual packs)

With all these choices, it's easy to eat dye free and still have special treats. I keep these kinds of treats on hand for teachers so my kids have something that tastes good when there are parties at school.

Why don't more families go dye free? Well, the main reason is they don't realize how much difference a few chemicals can make. Food dyes affect my kids for 3 full days. Most food companies don't want to have to use more expensive ingredients to make natural foods. Food dyes and other petroleum based chemicals are cheap. And the FDA doesn't want to get involved or to acknowledge research like the Lancet study (2007) linked at the right, which made Britain ban artificial colors from their food a couple years ago. So tell your friends and family members too. If you have not tried your children on a natural diet free of chemicals like food dyes and preservatives, you may have never known the joy of how pleasant your real child is. The only way to know your REAL child is to feed him/her READ FOOD.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want to remind your followers that members of the Feingold Associaiton receive a book listing thousands of foods free of artificial dyes, flavorings, some preservatives and Aspartame--a huge and valuable resource!

www.feingold.org

food dye diaries said...

Thanks for the reminder on that. I keep telling people to check out Feingold!

Anonymous said...

Candy Canes... PureFun makes them. (As well as cotton candy, rootbeer barrels, pinwheels and other "typical" candy that we grew up with.)

http://www.purefun.ca/products.html

I got the candy canes on Amazon recently. They are also on the drugstore websites and the health food stores are supposed to carry them.

There is a function on the website to see where they are carried in your area. They are more like pink and white... a lighter red.

The candy canes are one of those things that I always got major crap for from family. Now, Santa will just give my kids these. :)

We do Surf Sweet and Yummy Earth as well. :)

food dye diaries said...

We actually found the PureFun candy canes at Kroger last year, as well as the health food store. They were a litle milder flavor than regular, but very good and much appreciated after several years going without.

stacey said...

I shop at Aldi and have found that alot of their product is dye free. I think it is partly because they are a European based company. Mini marshmallows have no dye and are only .69 cents! They also have a dye free licorice and dye free peanut m&ms(their brand). I buy their cake mixes and choc pudding cups, both for under $1. Check them out!!

Michelle The Student said...

As a mom of a 7 yr. old who is now being evaluated for ADHD, I thank you for your work. I now have hope that my straight A always busy 7 yr. old son. His school wanted him evaluated for ADHD. His Ped. Md referred him for a behavioral consult w/a psych yesterday. I was wondering what could I have done to my little boy to cause him to act this way?! We removed all sugar/high fructose corn syrup and still we would have the disruptive/hyper behavior. We will start the journey today to remove the red dye from all of our diets. Thank you for your blog and all your work. I now have hope for something besides ADHD meds!

Anonymous said...

I'm always looking for places to find good deals on dye free food.We just got an Aldi store by us I'll check them out.I took my son off dyes about 2 years ago and saw great improvement in behavior,but there was still something going on and we had a neuro-psych done and it turns out he does have adhd(not a severe case)but I thank god everyday Ifound out about the dyes because it could have been so much worse now I am diligent about them and also sharing my story about dyes.