Oh, the darn artificial flavors

I thought my kids could handle small amounts of artificial flavor, but I now think I'm going to put the ban on that one too. Recent combinations of granola bars and root beer seemed to bring out the scary symptoms in my 10 year old. I realized it's in the hot chocolate too. Hmmm, with 3 storms in the past 10 days, we've been hitting the hot chocolate heavy too.

In case you have not read my other posts on the subject, artificial flavor and color both come from petroleum based chemicals manufactured in China. I haven't always noticed lots of problems with the flavors, but it's starting to look like my kids react the same as they do to food dyes.

SIGHHHHH. It really is easier to steer clear of all the petroleum based chemicals. At least the attitude, angry outbursts, and that "I can't get to sleep because I keep hearing noises and think something's coming to get me" stuff really does go away again in a few days. I just feel blessed that I know my true son and not just the scary petroleum overloaded kid who sneaks out every once in a while.

Guess I'll be experimenting with making my own hot chocolate from scratch since it's still snowing outside.

More petroleum in food?

My friend and fellow food dye avoider called me to say she noticed Heinz advertising on their vinegar that they are the only one guaranteed not to contain petroleum. WHAT!? Now it's in the vinegar too?! I did a quick Internet search and found this article about vinegar and petroleum. Once again, it pays to know what you are eating. Something else to ponder, I guess.

By the way, I think the vanillin (another petrochemical) in the easter chocolate has been affecting me this week. Maybe that's why my daughter is a little on edge too.

More petroleum in my food

Just when I thought I had enough to obsess about with food dyes, I read in Jane Hersey's book, Healthier Food for Busy People, that artificial vanilla, usually called vanillin, is often made from petroleum and used paper pulp ingredients. So here's another one I'd like to weed out of the family diet. I wonder exactly what it was that made people decide that synthetic chemicals were better than real food. Well, money, I'm sure. But how can this be good for us our for our kids? Have they ever really studied what petroluem does to a developing brain? I've been scanning ingredients, cookies, chocolate chips, you name it, it's got vanillin. Sigh. Ignorance would be bliss at this state.

Do you eat crude oil?

The answer is YES any time you eat something with synthetic dyes (red #40, yellow #5, yellow #6, blue #1). They are all made from petroleum, YES that's the same stuff they use in gasoline!
Does anyone else think that's just gross? The current food industry norm is to add a little petroleum to just about every food targeted to kids. No wonder we need so much Ritalin! The same card states that Red 40 is banned in Canada due to concerns about it causing cancerous tumors in test animals. So research shows it makes kids hyper and irritable. Other countries ban it, and here in the US we crank it into more and more foods at higher and higher doses. Am I the only one that thinks that is just plain wrong?

I received this information in a packet sent by Jane Hersey at the Feingold Association yesterday. She was kind enough to send me copies of her books, newsletters and other handouts from Feingold. Thanks Jane! It's really worth reading.

Previous post about Jane Hersey on my blog