Ready for Halloween

Whew, I wasn't sure I would even get to post this before Halloween. I've still been busy with sick parents, sick kids, and school problems. It's been a tough fall so Halloween kind of snuck up on me this year.

A fellow food dye fanatic/friend sent me this link about Necco wafers going dye free. I stocked up on Yummy Earth Lollipops, Darell Lea's licorice (from Target) and some chocolate. I use my selections to replace what my kids bring home from parties.


Here is what I sent in to the preschool party today:








I used a white cake and frosting mix and then decorated with spider rings from Walmart. My daughter loved that some of the rings were purple. For those who have not read my previous holiday posts, I often use white cakes and frosting to make cupcakes for school parties. Be sure to read the ingredients. Many white cake and frosting have dyes.

Then I decorate with colorful things that don't contain dyes. Some cupcake paper wrappers come with matching toothpicks to stick in each cupcake. Otherwise I've used foil wrapped chocolates. Basically I try to add color, without adding petroleum based color like red #40. This year I did not sign up for very many parties (didn't get to the list quick enough at parent night) so I just brought in a cupcake for my son's party and he passed on the rest of the stuff the other parents brought.

My oldest has been quite happy that I stocked the teacher with candy for him. He would rather have a few Surf Sweets sour worms than a cupcake anyway. I just asked what he wanted to eat on party days and he picked a few bags of candy. It works out easily because the candy keeps a little longer than cookies or cakes. The only down side: one day he had a sub and she didn't believe him that he could get candy instead of a birthday treat. Win some, loose some.

I'm also still trying to find which dentist pays kids for their Halloween candy. I think we'll pay him a visit.

pet peeves about food dyes

My children often drink water in restaurants because the lemonade and punch have dyes, the soft drinks have sugar and sodium benzoate, and one is even allergic to milk. I hate it when the only water option is the self serve soft drink dispenser where you have to push the tab on the same spout as the fruit punch. I always let the water run to try to wash it out. Today I went back and asked for a lid for the cup of water. They did not have a lid so they gave me a white Styrofoam cup instead. Once I transferred the water from a clear cup into the white cup, it was easy to see that it was still pink. SIGH. How frustrating when you can't even get water without the red#40. Next time I'll spend the extra dollar and buy a bottle of water. So much for the environment. I dumped the cup an told my daughter I'd give her a better drink when we got home. Bottom line: watch out for where your water comes from in restaurants.

dye free cough syrup

Since flu season hit so early here, I've found myself with 3 coughing children this week. I don't like to give a lot of medicine, but when they are hacking away so bad that nobody can sleep, it seemed something was needed.

I actually had 2 kinds of cough syrup on hand after I threw away the purple stuff. One was a clear Triaminic. The other was NatraBio children's cough syrup from the health food store. Both have helped. My children tolerated the taste of both, even though the homeopathic one smelled pretty strong. I have been unable to find more the of the clear Triaminic now that we ran out, but I've only checked Kroger so far. The good news is, you do have choices besides the rainbow colored ones. Even if your kids are healthy, keep an eye out for the dye free Motrin and cough products now so you already have them when you need them. You'll be glad you did.

dye free antibiotics

I can't believe we're in cold and flu season already. We've had a major flu outbreak at school this week, so when my son spiked a fever, I was thinking there was a huge chance it was H1N1. It turns out 2 of my children have strep throat instead. The doc warned that almost every child she has seen from our school has tested positive for flu, so we will probably still get it. Can't wait!

In the mean time, the nurse handed me 2 prescriptions for Amoxicilin chewable tablets. I reminded her my kids can't have food dyes. She said she could check with the pharmacy, but they were visibly swamped and I guessed that would take another hour. I called the pharmacy myself, from the doctor's office. The pharmacist originally thought they only had pink tablets, but sounded surprised to find some white ones. Problem solved, for once without dyes and without the run-around. My son says they taste good/minty. It was nice to get a cheep generic prescription rather than the expensive compounds we've had in recent months for other things.

Hi, I'm back

September ended up being a very stressful month. I thought we were starting off a really great school year, but soon found a long list of problems with one particular school staff member. I've been so busy, I feel like I blinked my eyes and the month is over. Oh, yeah, we've also had one kid in a cast and many other interesting adventures.

On the food dye front, one of the funniest, and at the same time most pathetic incidents was when an intervention person at my school told me she gives the kids the red and white mints to help them concentrate. Oh, yeah, that will do it, I thought.

Another person gave my son a Dum Dum at school on a Friday and we dealt with that for a whole weekend. That was a "fun" weekend, to say the very least. Hopefully others are being more successful in their journey to remain "dye free." Hopefully life will settle down a little and I'll get back to posting more often.

it's starting early

Can't believe I've already got a child with a sore throat and fever! We haven't even had a full week since school started. At least the Urgent Care doctor took me seriously and wrote the script for Augmentin (the while antibiotic) rather than the pink stuff. I told him my child reacts badly to food coloring and could I please have a medicine that did not contain artificial colors. I told him I have learned that many times medicines have colors in them already banned in food. He seemed surprised by that. I briefly explained that my children all show severe changes in reaction to food dyes and that it is very detrimental to them. He believed me and said we could get Augmentin instead of Amoxicilin.

In case you haven't read my early entries, that's how my whole journey with food dyes began. A dark colored antibiotic made my child look crazy hyper. That was 3 years ago. What a journey it has been.

What are the effects of food dyes?

Many people wonder what food dyes really do. How can they be detrimental if they are allowed to be in so many children's foods? Well, I'd like to lay it out there from 2 perspectives: 1. the research 2. my experience as a Mom.

Research has been showing food dyes to cause hyperactivity and irritability in "normal" kids, not just ADHD kids. Our FDA does not want to acknowledge the recent research, but it was enough for Britain to ban dyes from their foods. Hmmm, total denial, verses total action to protect children. Seeing any trends with out FDA? Check links to the side for articles about the recent studies.

Here are a few new ones I found:

Do food dyes affect kids' behavior? --LA Times

The truth about food dyes -Couric and Co CBS

Chemical food additive exposure during pregnancy

This last one is disturbing. In case you didn't read it all the way through, here's the conclusion:

Regarding the observations of hyperactivity after exposure to food dyes, there was enough evidence for the researchers to conclude,
"Our results provide additional support for the belief that administration of food colorings may exert significant effects in the developing organism. Thus, it is apparent that food dyes affect activity levels during the first month of postnatal life."
Dr. Bennett A. ShaywitzPediatric Neurology, Yale University School of MedicineNeurobehavioral Toxicology, Vol. 1:41-47

I wish I knew why this stuff has not been better studied and publicised, but it seems that it is still not common knowledge to many families. My hope is that my blog will help with that. I just wish there was a better way to shout to our country, "Wake up and look at your children! This is not how children are supposed to be. People were not made to eat petroleum by-products!"

As a mom I have seen even more dramatic effects. I have 2 children who become irritable, defiant and difficult to be around. The screaming, shouting, fighting, it all goes off the charts. It's not continual. It's more like it spikes without warning over the course of 3 days. One even spits, hits, sticks the tongue out a lot, but only within 3 days of food dyes. The behavior does not otherwise occur. I also see hyperactivity mixed in with the angry stuff on the same two. It's like the brakes short circuit and they jump, bounce and dash about much more than normal.

That leaves my other child, the "hyperactive times 100 when on food dyes" child. I don't see as much of the angry responses out of that one, but more of the crazy, "devil may care" attitude that revs from sun up to sun down with no break. It's like he's on drugs! And then I sat there thinking he needed to be one. Thank God I figured out the food dye connection and never had to go down that path. He didn't need Ritalin or any other drug. He needed healthy food. Again, the behavior stays under control unless there is an exposure to food dye. I've tried it out hundreds of times over 3 years. When the food dyes are not consumed, I have calm, considerate, polite children who do their chores and homework without incident, practice their musical instruments, and maintain a reasonable level of peace. It's honestly just that simple.