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