questions about caramel color

I've had some recent questions about caramel color so I figured I'd gather some things I have found on that.

Caramel color is considered natural, but some experts are now saying that it may still have health risks. Here is the basic list of natural verses unnatural dyes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_coloring

Here is a recent article that describes some of these concerns about caramel color:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-f-jacobson/caramel-coloring-in-soda-_b_823639.html

My experience is, well, odd to say the least. You may have seen my earlier posts about anger and food dyes, tantrums and food dyes, or even childhood bipolar and food dyes. We've been a dye free family for almost 4 years now. We also do not generally allow our children to drink soda, so my recent experimentation is limited. We used to allow caffeine free soda such as root beer or the lemon lime ones on special occasions. Usually I noticed my younger two got increasingly hyperactive. I attributed this to the sodium benzoate so they just rarely get any soda at all. However, on at least three rare occasions that I allowed my oldest to have root beer, my usually easy going, cooperative and calm kid had a terrible time going to sleep. He kept thinking he was seeing or hearing things. He was all "edgy," hyped up, and upset without any real reason. After the third or fourth time, we attributed it to the root beer. No more root beer, no more problem. REALLY. We let it slip a few more times, (denial about the effects of food on behavior is normal) and finally decided together (my son and I agreed) root beer does weird things to his thinking. Avoid it and we're fine. I should also mention here that my daughter also has trouble staying asleep if she has any of the food dyes.

Now remember, I'm also a mental health professional. I'm well aware of what these symptoms can mean. It is highly unusual to have such symptoms just pop in and then go away. But then again, that's what happens with the other food dye reactions we've experienced, so I'm pretty confident that something in the root beer does that to my son. He's sooooo good about it now, I just have to brag about his responsible, mature response. When offered root beer at a party, he will just say it makes him crazy so he doesn't drink it. His friends know he has some weird food restrictions, they're used to it so they accept it and move on. We've not had the same response from any of the clear sodas. With more sleep overs and parties, he's allowed to have those and it's not a problem. I also like the new Sierra Mist Natural. Finally something more like what we had as kids. Strangely, my son's had cola a few times (Dad wimpped and coudn't say no) but it didn't seem to cause a problem.

While I'm on the topic, I may as well mention that we also try to avoid all the artificial sweeteners. I've seen a trend in my professional work with children. Well meaning families that consume a lot of Splenda (in attempt to be healthier and avoid sugar) seem to have more than their share of aggitated children. Just an observation on that one, no research to back it up, but I think the general rule applies. A little sugar is OK in moderation, fake stuff/chemical stuff gets you one way or another. So if your kids don't sleep well, once again, check the food and get rid of the fake stuff. You may be surprised at how great your children can be when they eat real, healthy food.

Naturally dyed eggs

Happy Earth Day and Happy Easter! I'm celebrating hitting 25,000 hits on my blog today. Thanks for following!

My mom told me Rachel Ray did a show this week on dying eggs naturally with tea bags. I missed it, but I found this on her website (scroll down to the bottom for the natural colors).
http://www.rachaelray.com/article.php?article_id=141

Found some other links too.
http://comfybelly.com/2011/04/easter-recipe-ideas-2011-and-naturally-dyed-eggs/
http://www.herbsociety-stu.org/DyeingEggs.htm

I had already bought the Paas egg sleeves so we did that today. It was simple but fun and the eggs are pretty.

Ready for Easter, Part 2

I went to Trader Joes and got most of my Easter candy there. They had peanut butter cups in milk and dark chocolate (but without the artificial stuff in the name brand) as well as Tummy Yummy Bunnies. I bought a few other kinds of chocolates and I think I'm all set with more than enough sugar to get through the holiday. In case you missed my earlier Easter post, I really like Surf Sweet Jelly beans. I usually get them at my health food store and I think they taste a little better than Trader Joes'.

I also made the trip because we had another birthday party. I picked up a package of mini chocolate cupcakes with butter cream icing to take with me. That's what my daughter ate while the other girls had pink frosted cake and fruit punch.

I bought an egg decorating kit (at another store) where you can melt the little sleeve around the egg. If I get my False Indigo to take off in the garden this year, maybe next year I'll have some interesting natural colors to play with. Decided I'm spending too much time getting my garden going to work on natural egg colors this year.

Happy Spring!

forget the frozen lemonade

We tried that frozen lemonade from Tim Hortons I mentioned a few days ago and you may as well forget it! It tastes very artificial, like it's made from a powdered mix...NOT NATURAL AT ALL. So I called to see if I could find out the ingredients. They did not acknowledge any artificial flavors or colors, but it's loaded with high fructose corn syrup, sodium benzoate, etc. Maybe now we're getting into a whole new category of foods that sound healthier, but really aren't. I'm trying to decide what to call them: imposters, pseudo-natural, sorta better, or "fake good" foods. I'm feeling very manipulated! The advertising is deceptive in a very subtle way. Technically, they didn't say anything false. They just lure you into thinking it's healthy and better, but really, it's not much better than everthing else out there. I think big companies are learning that people want natural ingredients so they advertise "no artificial flavors or colors", yet they still put lots of other junk in behind the scenes, hoping we won't notice. Well I noticed! When you stay on a a real food diet, you can taste the chemicals in the first bite. I hope you'll be on the lookout for this kind of sneaky tricks too. Feel free to comment if you too have had a "natural-NOT" experience. And if I sound grumpier than normal, I AM and I'm sure it has something to do with the bright pink and blue amoxicillin I'm taking for a sinus infection. I was too miserable to be my usual demading self and settled for the dyed prescription. Pray for my children that my patience holds out.

dye free candy

I made another exciting discovery yesterday. Wonka has dye free candy: sour gummies and regular gummies. I was at Ohio University for a training and found it at the check out line in the cafeteria. My friend, another dye free advocate, was surprised we had never tried it. She said she sees it everywhere, especially gas stations. I guess I stopped looking at candy racks under the assumption there was nothing we could have. This was yet another pleasant surprise: regular candy, in a regular check out, at a regular candy price. I attached a link to their site so you can see what the packaging looks like. http://www.wonka.com/home.aspx/kazoozleandgummies However, only a few products are natural. Most of their other products still have dyes. If they could only get a dye free laffy taffy my son would be in heaven...maybe some day. When I looked more closely at the site, it appears Nestle owns Wonka. Nestle has been changing many of their products, going more natural. They even took the artificial flavor out of their chocolate chips. With that in mind, chocolate chips would be another idea for things to put in Easter eggs. So, Thanks Nestle! We'll be buying your natural products.

dye free treats

Our discovery of dye free foods continues all the time. Today my son spotted an add from Tim Hortons promoting their new frozen lemonade free of artificial colors and flavors. We haven't tried it yet, but it's so exciting for my kids to move from everything seeming to be off limits, to having more and more choices. In case you have not read my other posts, most lemonade in restaurants has yellow dye. If it comes from the soda fountain, it usually has yellow #5 or 6. We stopped asking months ago. Only a few, like Chick-Fil-A, have natural lemonade. Even then you still need to be aware. Many of the Chick-Fil-A salad dressings have dyes in them so check first. We did have another good lemon discovery. Minute Maid has individual frozen lemonade cups that are dye free. We noticed their cherry lime ones are also dye free. In the past, I've taken these in a cooler to the ball park for team snack after baseball games. We also attended a birthday party today. I meant to make my own sweet something (cup cake, brownie, etc. to take but I ran out of time). I grabbed a Capri Sun and a few donut holes on my way out the door. We lucked out as it turned out the birthday girl requested chocolate chip cookies so there were no issues with frosting. They served red punch so my daughter had the drink I brought. Easy party with no "left out feeling." Yay!

Ready for Easter?

Nothing used to stress me out like another colorful holiday where my kids would have to miss out on treats while their friends get to stock up on the sugar. This year seems easier than ever to stay dye free. In case you are worried about how to get through another holiday, here's a summary of current and past ideas for Easter. Make a trip to the health food store or shop online for Surf Sweets jelly beans. They are natural and taste great. I bought a few bags on my last trip. You can also find great natural candies at Trader Joes and Whole Foods. Unfortunately, these stores are not convenient to my home, so I rarely shop there. Check out a Kroger Marketplace. I have the good fortune of a new one close to home. Ours has a bulk food aisle with many surprises. We stopped there this weekend to get some bulk quinoa (my new favorite healthy breakfast). My 11 year old noticed the gummy bears were naturally colored. Lucky for us the ingredients were easily posted on bulk food containers. Then we realized we had many new dye free choices: jelly beans, gummy bears, fruit candy, and Sundrops (natural candy coated chocolate like M&M's) in regular and peanut. All these choices were available in bulk. Yay! Consumer pressure is working. Annies is also a good brand for organic gummy bunnies: cute for Easter and found in lots of stores including Kroger. Other Easter ideas: fill plastic eggs with non candy items. In the past we've used plastic soldiers, police, firemen, butterflies, and bugs. We've used dinosaurs, golf tees, foam golf balls, Sillly Bandz, etc. You could also use pennies. Eggs are just as fun without all the candy. I have used larger eggs to fit plastic toys better (I have a bunch that are about 3 inches long). A bag of little trinkets doesn't cost much more than candy and lasts a whole lot longer. Also, watch out for inexpensive chocolate. They may add red dye to make up for the lack of real cocoa or many brands have artificial flavor, which is still a petrochemical like the food dyes. You may also want to prep the grandparents or other family members. Simple reminders go a long way. Tell them to avoid chocolate bunnies that have the cute colored bows and eyes. Take your own candy to family functions if you need to. I was lucky that my mom stopped sending candy and substituted cash or gift cards to book stores. As my kids have gotten bigger, gift cards for books or itunes have been huge hits. We also tend to skip the regular colored eggs. We have used kits that have stickers or sleeves that shrink over the eggs. That way we still have the project of decorating eggs, without intense petrochemicals seeping through the shells. Feel free to post any other ideas you have, especially if you have colored eggs with natural colors.

FDA hearings on food dye: no action, but need more research

Here are links to a few articles I found on the recent FDA hearings. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/health/policy/01fda.html?_r=1 http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/31/more-research-needed-on-food-dyes-fda-panel-says/ I have to admit I'm disappointed about the FDA's lack of response to food dyes, but can't say I'm all that surprised. Food manufacturers do not want to change to more expensive food ingredients. They don't want the cost and hassle of warning labels. The price of food is jumping enough without a change in ingredients. Thus, a huge percentage of the American public remains clueless to the potential affects of food dye on children's behavior. However, I'm also disappointed that the articles seem to focus on ADHD symptoms. Sure we've seen some outrageous hyperactive and impulsive behavioral responses to food dyes in my family. It was the main reason I started the whole ban. However, the reason I've kept my family dye free for over 3 1/2 years was the combination of behaviors: irritability, tantrums, aggression, sleep disturbance, negative thinking, etc. This is what I think research should address. I could live with a kid who was a little bouncy and hyperactive. It's the angry, yelling, defiant personality change that I decided was intolerable. I wish I could show families how much calmer and healthier all 3 of my kids have stayed consistently for the past 3 years off dyes, and how badly things break down in the rare instances that petrochemicals creep into the diet. So on that front, I agree with the FDA. RESEARCH IT MORE. But I certainly hope they do more than run a simple study only looking at hyperactivity. My experience has been that food dyes affect way more than that. I don't need research to know what my own in-house, 3 person case study has shown. Life is better when you eat real food. As we continue to use buying power, more and more natural options will be available.

Blue dye still makes her cry

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. There wasn't much new to say. We've been really successful avoiding dyes in our food for quite a while. We've pretty much limited all the other petroleum based products too (artificial flavors, preservatives).

Then came St. Patrick's Day. The kindergarten teacher ran out of alternate snacks that I usually keep stocked for each classrom. So she sent me an email saying how bad she felt and did not want my daughter to miss out on the class treat. She thought since they were white cupcakes with white icing and only a little bit of green sprinkles that it would be OK. Let me tell you, it's been just "peachy".

There was the sobbing, sobbing, sobbing about everything the first night, then the "I don't want to sleep in my bed" routine in the middle of the night. She normally sleeps quite fine the whole past year when she's not on food dye. More "melt downs" followed today. It should run it's course by tomorrow.

I commented on the blue, even though the sprinkles were green, because I'm guessing it was yellow 5 or 6 along with blue 1 in the ingredients. We thought back to the day we banned blue, the last of the food colors to leave our diet. We had taken the kids to see Santa and let each of the three of them have a blue lollipop, since we had not seen blue to cause much trouble until then. We got home and all 3 kids started crying about nothing at the exact same time. Then they all continued to cry a lot randomly, on and off for the rest of the day with no apparent reason. It was enough for my husband to say, "enough...no more blue...ever."

It's kind of funny that we made it through the big red food holidays (Christmas and Valentines) with no trouble, as well as Halloween. Go figure it's the green one that gets us. Feel free to comment if blue makes your child cry too, or if your child ever has trouble sleeping after consuming food dyes. I like to let others know it's not just my family who experiences this strange phenomenom.

FDA to hold hearings

Well it's about time. Follow this link to see the press release from Center for Science in the Public Interest indicating they are finally getting a response to their petition to the FDA on food dyes.

http://cspinet.org/new/201012011.html

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.

So proud this week

My 5 year old handed over a large, unopened pack of Skittles after the morning bus driver gave them out Monday. I praised her, gave her some Sour Gummy Worms from the "good stash" of stuff I let her eat, and let her have a few pieces of chocolate left from the Halloween goodies. That's about triple the usual amount of sugar I would normally allow, but it was a special occasion. I reward big for turning in what I don't want them to eat.

I forgot for the next 2 days and suddenly wondered what happened to the candy my older boys got. When I finally asked them if they got the same candy, they both had put it in their backpacks and forgot about it. I had 3 kids all produce large bags of Skittles without having eaten any or even trying to open them. Big hugs, big rewards, big praise. Skittles are added to the bag of candy getting sent to the troops. I just can't imagine that dye free eating is a priority when stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan so I figure they'll really enjoy them. I'll enjoy the peace of my kids not going ballistic all week.

Making a statement this Halloween

Wonder why your kids have a hard time listening, behaving, or keeping basic self control? Does your child get hyper, defiant, or have lots of tantrums? It could really be the foods they eat. We made a statement this Halloween to try to get the word out. Read on below for more information about what is really in your food. It's kind of SCARY!

We went to Chipolte tonight for dinner to participate in the "dress to kill" contest inviting customers to "dress as your favorite scary processed food." Well you know we couldn't pass that one up. Here we are:



My kids as their favorite color not to eat.




My wonderful husband as a grumpy old man


...and me, food dyes make me feel like this

Here we are, ready to enjoy our meal.

Here is our whole family of scary food dyes.

You probably can't read the info on the signs, but it's all stuff I've been putting on this blog for the past couple of years. I was surprised by some of the tid bits I found when I was looking for good information to put on the signs. Such as: Red 3 is banned from cosmetics but you can still eat it. Oh, and on that idea, you can just image my delight when my 9 year old came home from the fall party with a HUGE green alien sucker on a glow in the dark stick. He was eating it in the car before I even saw it. I knew we were in trouble as soon as I smelled it. I think it had every color we dressed as on the ingredient list. UHG!!!!!! Somehow we survived the weekend anyway.

I found all the information for our costume signs at CSPI:

http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/food-dyes-rainbow-of-risks.pdf

Here's what our signs said:

Scary food dye
RED 40
Acts like a neurotoxin and excites the brain.
Causes hyperactivity, mood swings, irritability
It’s hidden in everything from vanilla ice cream, mayo, chocolate, brownies, cake, bread, yogurt….
It’s not just the really red foods like strawberry, blueberry, or fruit punch
They use this chemical to mask when they’re too cheap to use real fruit/berries or real food

RED 3
SHOWN TO CAUSE CANCER
Yet it’s still often in candy and sweet treats
It’s in fruit roll ups and Kid Cuisine
Found in lots of other food marketed to children
Banned from cosmetics, but we still eat it?

YELLOW 5
WANT SOME PETROLEUM IN YOUR FOOD?
(yes! Like feeding your kids a little gasoline)
Causes hyperactivity, mood swings, irritability
It’s in your pickles, ice cream, candy, mayo….

YELLOW 6
It’s in mac and cheese, dressing, sauces, popcorn, cakes, cookies, pickles, frosting, etc.
Some studies show chromosomal mutations
Can cause sudden severe allergic reactions

BLUE 1
HOW MUCH PETROLEUM DO YOU EAT?
Linked to tumors and neurotoxicity
Studies showed inhibition of nerve cell growth
It’s in your marshmallows, candy, sport drinks
Face it, bodies weren’t meant to eat bright blue

These signs were on our backs:

What’s so scary about Food dyes ?
Synthetic chemicals are in many common foods
Made from petroleum, usually produced in China
Many are known carcinogens, can cause highly allergic responses
Research shows they increase hyperactivity
Banned in Britain and other countries
Behavioral effects in children last 3 FULL DAYS

These signs were on our kids' backs

Why we don’t eat any food dyes:
THEY ACT LIKE NUEROTOXINS
We get more hyperactive, impatient, impulsive, argumentative, irritable, angry, defiant for 3 days
without dyes we stay more calm, happy, focused
research linked dyes to behavior problems, hives, cancer, asthma, motor tics, chromosomal mutations
we like the taste of real food better
people weren’t meant to eat petro-chemicals

Dye free after trick or treat

Kids had a great time getting lots and lots of candy. We immediately took all the food coloring stuff and put it in a bag to donate to the troops overseas. For local folks, there's an organization that takes up collections at Town and County Shopping Center every Saturday until November 20. That seemed like the perfect way to give someone the candy who would like it. We're allowing some chocolate for the weekend, even though I think the artificial flavor and vanillin will be likely to get some reactions. I have plenty of other things to trade, but with all the candy left over, I really don't feel like there's any shortage and neither do my kids. They've learned not to get possessive about the things they can't eat and to enjoy what they can have.

What's interesting to me is, for the first time the candy does not hold much appeal to me. I've always been a terrible chocoholic, but now it seems like all those fresh fruits and veggies I've been eating really have diminished my cravings for sugar. Part of me is sad, but the other part says, wow look how my body is looking for the good stuff. I'm going to go snack on something with no sugar.

How to get kids to eat healthy

I have to admit that I was pretty much programmed to feed my kids processed junk until I figured out how crazy it made all of us (me included.) It has taken some time to get used to cooking differently, but I really think we see huge benefits.

One of my favorite new ideas is simple, but life changing. I have to give credit to Dr. Sears. It was a DVD of his that I saw at a nutrition training that got me going. Dr. Sears recommends making a nibble tray or grazing tray of healthy, bite sized fruits and vegetables for small children. I found a couple divided Rubbermaid containers (about 12 by 12 in.) and bought 2. I keep cut up raw veggies in one, cut up fruit in another. When the kids get home from school, we pull that out first. When we walk in the door on my work days and I need some time to get dinner going, we pull those out and nibble on good stuff. When we want a snack, we all eat from our fresh stash of produce. Having it already cut and ready to eat is the key. It comes in handy when we need one more thing to fill out a meal. I just pass the box around and tell everyone, take 2-3 things from each one. In a pinch I grab what's in there for lunches. When we had pizza for dinner, I still got out the boxes and I'm sure we all had a few extra servings of fruits and veggies. It's been that easy. So buy some extra produce, get it cut up and accessible and see what happens. Real healthy food really does taste good.

I used to be reluctant to buy some produce as it seemed pricey. I've since re-thought this. I used to think 1.99 was expensive for a bag of raw sweet peas in the pods, yet I spend 3.99 for a bag of chips. Hmmm. I now buy a combination of which organics look good, which produce is in season, and what sounds appealing or different. We also focus on getting lots of different colors. I'm trying to buy different things too.

The great news is, my kids love it. They have fought for the last red and yellow pepper strips, enjoyed crunching pea pods and celery, and generally seem to enjoy the taste of vegetables more and more. It's the same with fruit. My 10 year decided that mango is really good. It's because now I actually cut the whole thing up instead of letting it rot in the bottom drawer of my fridge. We have loved the organic apples and oranges I found. (By the way, I prioritize organic on these foods as sometimes companies inject coloring into the skin to make it look better.) Yes, the bright orange orange looks better, but I have to tell you we loved the last bag of organics that had some yellowing and dents in the skin. They tasted wonderful.

I encourage everyone to check out Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution if you haven't already. I also found a blog that talks about cooking real foods: http://outoftheboxfood.com/.

Our new challenge to eating dye free food: scouts

All 3 of my kids jumped into scouts this fall and we've had a flurry of camp-outs, den meetings, and misc. activities. It seems each new gathering presents both opportunities and challenges. The challenge is the same since a started blogging a few years ago: what to eat, what to bring, how to plan food. The opportunity is huge to educate a lot more families about how they can help their own kids enjoy healthy eating with fewer problems in the mood, behavior, impulsivity department.

And with all of this comes the mishaps. It figures we were due for something to sneak in. It's been a very long time. I had almost forgotten how hard it was to be around my kids when they were "high on dye." This time it was all 3 at once (triple ouch). They had a great family scout camp-out with lots of fun activities. I thought I had played it really well since DH took the kids out in the tent and I got to stay home to "let the dog out" and go out to dinner with my girlfriend. I met up with my family the next day to go through the games and help with dinner. when I saw the fruit cocktail, I explained my kids wouldn't be eating it (Red cherries). I told several interested Moms our story about food dyes.

Later I noticed they were also serving canned peaches so I gave some to my kids. It was a few minutes later I realized the peaches had been dumped into the container that originally had the fruit cocktail and there were still red cherries floating around in all the syrup. Uhg! Who likes canned fruit anyway?

Well, that did it. We were fine that night, but the next 3 days I had a hyper hyper boy who couldn't stop drumming all day, a grumpy arguing kid who wanted to pick a fight, and a little miss with a huge attitude who started hitting and kicking and screaming all the time. Figures we had an extra day off school in the midst of that so I got to "enjoy" my children even more intensely for a dye exposed day. We survived, somehow, and I gave repeated thanks that this is not how my children usually are. Once again, it seemed to last 3 full days. Then it was like a magic switch was flipped. I had a compliant agreeable 10 year old who said "please" and "thank you" and "OK" again. My little drummer boy could sit still and focus on homework again. The screamer stopped fussing and peace returned to our household.

If you have not gone dye free yet, you have no idea what you might be missing: the joy of pleasant, well controlled children.

Scary food for Halloween

Hey, I'm back after another long absence. I was glad to see all the new comments. Halloween is tricky for those of us who want to be dye free, yet we still want our kids to have fun. In the past we have given out non food trinkets, pretzels, or dye free candy. We have also let the kids go get lots of food dyed candy, brought it back and dumped it into our "give away" bowl and had them go back out. Last year I let them get loaded up on candy, kept what was dye free, and sent the rest to my husband's office. I have exchanged their candy for Yummy Earth Lollipops, Surf Sweets, or chocolate. Since I thought we all reacted to too much artificial flavors in the chocolate last year, we'll be keeping that to a minimum too.

This year I will be giving out Yummy Earth Lollipops, purchased in bulk on amazon. But we are also going to have some fun with our costumes. Chipolte restaurant is inviting people to come in dressed as a scary processed food ingredient. http://www.chipotle.com/en-US/fan-antics/boorito/boorito.aspx Well of course, I can't pass that up. Our family will be going as the scary family food dyes. I'll keep you posted on our costumes as they progress. So far we've assigned colors and have hoodies for each one of us. We're working on whether we will also do scary masks or face paint.

Back to School and Dye free Benadryl

Hello,

Maybe now that my youngest started kindergarten I'll get back to posting more often. I spent last week sending emails to all the teachers to explain how my kids can't have food dyes and then I took a bag to each teacher of drinks and snacks that my kids can have instead of birthday treats with food dyes.

I also wondered if anyone else has had any recent luck finding dye free medicines. With the big Tylenol recall, it's much harder to find the basics. I usually stay stocked on dye free Motrin and Tylenol as well as Dye free Benadryl. I often buy the Meijer brand dye free Ibuprofen, which is not recalled and still available. I've been holding my breath hoping that my kids would not get poison ivy or bad bug bites needing the dye free Benadryl, since it's recalled. I was quite relieved that my friend told me today that CVS now has a dye free generic for Benadryl.

I also can't remember if I've posted on Gatorade and Powerade. A neurologist recommended my son drink sports drinks at the onset of migraines. It actually helps quite a bit and both come in a clear flavor if you look hard enough.

Thanks for all the recent comments to various posts. Sorry it took so long to get them to show up. I appreciate knowing my blog has helped other families.

Oh Happy Happy Day

Nothing like one of my favorite dye free foods to bring me back to my blog after a long busy baseball season. Actually, baseball's still not done since my son made the district play off team, but the schedule is finally calmer this week.

However, the big celebration is all about Graeters' ice cream. If you're not from Ohio, and if you missed Oprah's endorsement several years ago, you may not have heard of it. Their black raspberry chip ice cream may very well be the best ice cream on earth. Even Oprah thought so. I gave it up about 4 years ago when we went dye free because of the red #40.

My awesome husband noticed tonight that the container in the take home case said "all natural." They actually took out the red #40!!!! I am so excited. We can eat black raspberry chip ice cream again. Life is good. I may need to go back tomorrow just to get some.

I have faith that consumer pressure will keep driving these changes, so keep asking for your favorites to be made dye free. It can work.

taking the good with the bad

We had some highs and lows this week. My 4 year old went to a birthday party for a pre-school friend. A relative works at the preschool and knows about our food dye restrictions. The parent went to great effort to make treat bags with individually wrapped bags of cookies so they would be dye-free. They also got a cookie cake and requested that part be left un-frosted so my daughter could eat it.

That was all great... One of the best efforts that has been made on behalf of any of my children. There was only one problem. When they cut the cookie cake, they dragged the knife through the red frosting to get to the plain part for my daughter. Yeah....well, so much for all that effort. I may have spoken up if I was there, but I had to send my husband to the party since I was in a professional training all day. Needless to say, I saw a lot of behaviors pop out over the next 3 days that are not normally part of the routine. Hopefully we're winding back down now.

The other great news was my 10 year old had a classmate bringing in a birthday treat. The mom actually called me ahead to find out if a plain glazed donut would be OK. The rest of the class had donuts with sprinkles, but they kept a plain one separate.

So all in all we are even making progress with birthday parties, one family at a time. It's nice when thoughtful parents think about my kids and try to make sure they are not left out.