Red 40 Side Effects: What You Need to Know for Your Family’s Health
Have you ever wondered about the potential Red 40 side effects, the bright dye found in many foods and drinks?
While it gives products that vibrant red color we all recognize, it’s important to know what it could be doing to your body.
For most people, Red 40 is considered safe by health authorities, but some may experience side effects, especially if they’re sensitive to artificial dyes.
From headaches to skin reactions, let’s talk about what Red 40 might be doing to your body, and how you can stay informed about its use in your favorite snacks and beverages.
Is Red 40 bad for you?
Red 40 is a common food dye used in snacks, drinks, and candy. For most people, it’s fine in small amounts, but some kids may experience reactions like hyperactivity, stomachaches, headaches, or skin rashes.
While it is approved by the FDA for use in food, there are some concerns about its safety. Critics say that red dye 40 can be contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals and that it may also trigger behavioral problems in children.
If your child is sensitive to it, it might be a good idea to limit foods with artificial dyes. Pay attention to how they react after eating these foods and consider adjusting their diet if needed, as every child’s tolerance to Red 40 can vary.
Our Experience with Food Dyes
For most of her first four years, my daughter didn’t sleep. When she did, it was always with me, in our bed, and never peacefully—kicking, flailing, screaming, and having night terrors. It was terrifying.
Our pediatrician referred her to a sleep clinic for two sleep studies, but insurance didn’t cover it. I didn’t believe there was anything medically wrong, but something clearly was.
She was hyperactive all day, and when I’d ask her to calm down, she’d say she just couldn’t. The emotional crashes were extreme.
Someone suggested I look at her diet, and I realized the worst times often followed big events—like a birthday party with a tie-dye cake topped with rainbow frosting.
The cake had food dyes: FD & C Blue No. 1 & 2, FD & C Red No. 40, and FD & C Yellow No. 5 & 6—just food dye.
This made sense. Food dyes are banned in many countries but are still common in the U.S., where they’re used in everything from cake mixes and frosting to candy and drinks.
How Long Does Red 40 Stay in Your System?
Red 40 generally stays in your system for about 24 hours, but its effects may last a bit longer, depending on how sensitive someone is to it.
If your child experiences reactions like hyperactivity or stomach issues, these should subside once the dye is out of their system.
Staying hydrated with plenty of water can help flush it out faster.
While food dyes are typically excreted within 24-48 hours, they can have longer-lasting effects, especially in children.
They’ve been linked to health issues like allergies, ADHD, and even more serious concerns like cancer and learning problems.
It’s frustrating that many doctors don’t consider food dyes when addressing behavior and health issues, instead opting for medications.
How to Detox from Red Dye 40
Detoxing from Red Dye 40 is pretty straightforward and doesn’t require anything fancy!
The best way to clear it out of your system is by drinking lots of water to help flush it out. Make sure your little one stays hydrated, and encourage them to eat plenty of fiber-rich foods like fruits and vegetables, which can aid digestion and help eliminate it faster.
Avoiding foods with artificial dyes for a while can also give their body a break. If you notice any reactions, it’s always a good idea to keep track of what they eat and talk to your pediatrician if you’re concerned.
Our experience of detoxing from food dyes wasn’t too hard.
On Day 1, my daughter threw tantrums over not having her usual rewards—lollipops, cotton candy ice cream, and Eggo waffles for breakfast. But that night, something amazing happened. She said, “Good night, mommy,” and fell asleep in her own bed.
By Day 2, things had already calmed down. It wasn’t like living with a whirlwind anymore.
When people ask how long it took to see a change, the answer is immediate. Friends and family noticed right away. My husband didn’t believe me at first, but after shopping and seeing her hyperactivity kick in from foods with food dye, he understood.
Within days, the whole family was on board, including my daughter, who at just four years old said she felt better and her stomach no longer hurt. That moment hit hard—I realized not only could she not control her behavior, but she’d been living with a stomach ache all along.
I try to avoid food dyes now, but it’s tough. They’re hidden in so many foods—bread, frozen waffles, cake mixes, sauces, even cold cuts, fruit cups, and things like vitamins and medicines. It’s especially hard at parties, on road trips, or when I forget.
When I do slip up, the fallout is rough. I’m left scrambling to figure out what caused the hyperactivity and emotional crash. Usually, the only way to recover is to let her sleep it off.
If you are looking for ideas for natural food dyes, be sure to read my natural food dye guide here where I share a ton of natural food dyes and recipes!
This is almost exactly what we went through with our daughter. We never dealt with the sleeplessness, but she had the tantrums and she also got rashes around her mouth. They were sore and itchy, and took a week to go away, if she had no more dye that week. We figured out her problem when she was 3, and now she is 8. It gets easier! She is old enough now to know what she can and can’t have, and takes her own treats to birthday parties. We send in safe candy to school so she can have something when kids bring birthday treats. We also send in a bottle of dye free soap labeled with her name so she doesn’t use the icky pink stuff in the bathroom (which we found she was reacting to in kindergarten). She is even sensitive to fingerpaints! I’m glad you figured out how to help your daughter. I wish these dyes would be outlawed, and I think that the more parents who know about this, the more likely it will happen!
Thank you for sharing your story too! I will have to look into the soaps & finger paints, I didn’t think about that one! Another thing I forgot to mention was Johnson’s Baby Wash!
What is a child suppose to eat if everything has food dye in it? Serious question.
Fruits, vegetables, and many products do not have them. It’s all about reading labels and understanding them. I love to shop at Aldi now because so many of their products do not contain dyes!
@Ca’lah, Well, obviously not everything does, such as fresh and more “raw” ingredients like veggies and fruits. But of course, you have to be careful with additives that companies may have used too, and of course not everyone can afford to eat healthily like this, in the US, since so much food is processed for profit.
I myself am lucky enough to be able to afford the healthier and less dyed foods most of the time, and I experiment with natural dyes such as beet juice to make pink or red breads and stuff like that.
To put it bluntly, it’s expensive to be able to eat without these dyes because they are in so many things—so you can only have those better/less processed items if you are rich enough to. It’s a shame and I hope things change.
That honestly sounds like a wonderful question to ask the FDA and possibly the European Mommy’s who have been living without it apparently as it has been on their banned food products list for awhile so they would be awesome to get input back from on how to address the work around since our country doesn’t seem to think the food we eat these days has to actually be safe. But if the FDA deemed things like “Aspartame” as being safe or “Red 40” two major toxins this Country still says according to the FDA as safe to consume then maybe they should give us the actual fact based info they used back when they said it was generally safe to eat or consume. That’s more my question. Lately a product in food that was quoted by them safe entirely us later found not safe but this is getting sadly common & id love to know what makes the FDA someone knowledgeable enough to make that sort of claim to begin with. But if they can’t get our country’s food list correct for some reason & I mean alot of it, then what makes ya think they can for the other depts they are responsible for like our nations drugs both pharmaceutical amd OTC incl the kids stuff but also should they really be in charge of this considering the massive mistakes that they currently are making that is in fact in some cases killing ppl over. Does it rely have to take a claim legally tp get someone to care that is responsible for managing these agencies? Cmon enough already!!!! The citizens of this Country are the largest responsible party that makes up these govt agencies salaries NOT other corrupt govt entities or invested partners or biased business stakeholders etc IT IS the same people ur NOT taking care of nor doing thr job ur being paid for by our taxpayer dollars & beings how they just massively increased the state and local taxes for low to middle income Americans then those parties shouldn’t have any problem taking that extra money, junking whoever is responsible for poisoning us all these years & get them out of there!!!! And u know exactly who u are. U make 6 figure salaries but the top execs for these agencies sometimes make millions. This is just absolutely unacceptable. And I pay for this. No more! I’m tired & exhausted & frankly am so busy trying to stay on top of the dang ingredient lists of every single stupid product in this country that I shouldn’t have to cuz I pay someone to do this for me so do it those of u that have a hand in this shady bordering on criminal behavior that work in these places. I’m sick and tired of having to do it jobs for you. If your not going to do your job, then I want my taxes money back NOW! I should be paid currently NOT anyone else but maybe the helpful life saving Mommy’s & daddy’s in these consumer ran blogs that actually help to keep our families legitimately safe for nothing other than the good of the human beings & on moral grounds that we all have in ourselves. Sadly some in the govt have lost their human compassion, empGhy & their responsibilities that were to protect the consumers & people of our country. From where I stand no one is doing this but the actual consumers or themselves. I don’t know about you but I definitely want my money back because it shouldn’t be going to anyone he but me and you all and probably a few people on Quora and Reddit lol. I want my money back. And I apologize for this being a little bit lengthy and to go off on a rant I do appreciate your time as always But I think this is important to say & I’m absolutely physically and mentally tired of it, obviously.
I can second everything you said about food dyes. Our son was diagnosed as ADHD when he was 18 months old. For years, I dealt with hyperactivity, melt downs, anger and tantrums, then later, disgusted and angry teachers. It took forever to get people to understand they could not give him the same red Kool-Aid the other kids were drinking. The only thing that helped him calm down after ingesting food dyes was coffee. Yes, coffee. We noticed that he would sneak around and drink coffee out of everyone’s cup when we were having dominoes night, then he would sit and play quietly for an hour or so. After that, when he would get into emotional or physical trouble, we would give him coffee, with no sugar, and he would calm down. In fact, the last time he saw a doctor for diagnosis, he asked if we noticed that anything calmed him down. When I told him about the coffee incident, he nodded, said he would run the tests, but the fact that coffee calmed him down was all the proof he needed to diagnose my son as ADHD. Instead of dangerous ADHD drugs, we opted to remove as much food dye from his diet as we could, and use coffee to help him manage the rest of the times.
It is so crazy to me how the evidence is THERE what these dyes are doing to our children, yet the medical community takes us as a joke!
We are now figuring out the same problem with our three year old. She doesn’t seem to get crazy hyper during the day but when sleep time comes it’s awful. She goes to sleep but is up shortly after having night terrors. Crying. Almost like she’s hallucinating/still half asleep. It’s like she’s never fully asleep. If I put my hand on her to try to calm her it’s like her insides are shaking. And she kicks and hits and loses her cool. But she can’t control it. We’ve been avoiding due but I accidentally gave it to her the last two days and I notice her sleeping is awful again.
@Linda Sue, our doctor told me that some stimulant ADHD medications are similar to drinking high amounts of coffee, without the other side effects of drinking 12 cups of coffee. Some people use coffee to “self medicate” because it helps them focus (think about those people who dunk a pot of coffee all day and can still fall asleep at night.) this could be why it helps. It’s like giving him a low level stimulant.
This dye is used in almost everything like soft drinks, fruit juices, energy drinks, cereals, and even in some medicines. It s the most commonly used dye in foods that sadly gives nothing but color; tricking you into believing that it’s tastier.
We just had a huge issue last week because there were dyes in my daughter’s antibiotics.
Antibiotics were one of my son’s worst reactions. When I called the pharmacist, asking for a dye-free suspension, he told me that food dye problems weren’t a thing, and patronizingly tried to tell me about a kid’s developing brain (I have an MA in clinical psychology and do neuropsychological assessments for a living. Please, tell me about brains, pharmacist, that’s your specialty and I know nothing. *eye roll* He then told me that my son probably has ADHD then. Yeah, OK. That would cause literal screaming from morning until night which coincides directly with this med, and which wasn’t happening before it. He missed three days of school because of screaming fits and tantrums. So lastly, he told me if I was so sure that’s what was causing it, I should stop giving it to him. I told him that I’ve always heard that you have to continue a round of antibiotics until they’re finished, and that this was treating his second round of strep after the first round wasn’t fixed because the walk-in doc had prescribed an obsolete ABX. He told me he couldn’t help me.
After crying on the phone with my dad, and him crying too, having watched all we’d gone through with our little dude (we were wait listed for services, I’d gone to parenting classes, read books and articles about raising my spirited kid, had been a shut-in for most of his life due to not being able to take him anywhere, etc.). It was the push I needed. I had long suspected food dyes, and that pharmacist tool was the last straw.
A year ago we put him on a ‘no additive’ diet (I used the Fail Safe website – our allergist recommended Feingold, but Fail Safe is free and the same idea), and he’s been a different kid. I went from hopeless, depressed, and worried about my son’s future to…. I can’t even put it into words.
There were times where he got violent, times where he would punch his door, screaming like a wild animal, throw furniture. I considered calling crisis response because I didn’t know what to do, and was worried about his safety and the safety of my younger daughter. The only time he’s had an episode since is when he’s had a ‘bad’ food.
Luckily we have an amazing GP and allergist, who both recognize this as a real problem. And – he hasn’t had any asthma attacks/breathing issues since. No more puffer, no trips to emerge, no more illness turning into spiked fevers and breathing problems. Life changing.
Add lyphospheric colostrum to counteract past abc. How much of these allergies are triggered by vaccines? Monkey kidney cells as an ingredient? Come on!!!
Talk about unnecessary suffering…breaks my heart and kudos To the parents who trust their own guts and advocate for their kids.
@Jen, The allergy is real I have the rare Red#40 one.It really sucks. I dont get ADHD but instaed after hours I stop breathing and I scratch like theres no tomarrow
This was so interesting to read and really has me thinking about my daughter and her behavior some days. I always thought she becomes hyper active and can’t settle her body when she has the littlest bit of sugar, and try to avoid sugars as much as possible, but now I’m wondering about food dyes. Overall they seem to be harmful and not natural which is no good anyway. Thank you for writing this, I’m sure it will help a lot of parents.
I’m really interested in this and feel like I need to think more about this for my boys.
Thanks for the great post.
To help if the child eats something she reacts to, try chewable vitamin C. It can help within minutes.
I didn’t see the Feingold-diet mentioned here, but it can be very helpful.
My family has dealt with this since the 80’s…
Food dye is nasty stuff. It pains me to see kids eating that crap. I’m glad you figured it out!
@Jo-Lynne Shane, it Kills me to. Litterally Im allergic to it.
Wow – that’s scary! I once had a psychologist tell me the biggest issue she saw in kids was RED DYE #40! I’m a believer but thankfully not someone who has been affected by it.
@Fadra, Im allergic to that icky stuff.
I learned it wasn’t just sugar that was causing hyperactivity and meltdowns when my son was really tired one night and just wanted a little of my cheese popcorn before bed. He was bouncing off the walls within minutes of eating it. Yellow dyes were in it. So we are pretty much dye free now. Dyes in medicine is so hard for me to understand and so frustrating!
When my daughter was 6 or 7, she began having periodic episodes of projectile vomiting. These episodes would last for hours, causing her to become dehydrated and lethargic. A few times she ended up in the ER on IV fluids. It took us a year, but we finally realized the problem was artificial food dye. She is severely intolerant to it, especially in large quantities. Since we figured out the problem, she has had only a few incidences (she is 13 now), and those were times when she ate something that we never expected to contain dyes. I have become an avid label reader, as has she, but it has been a struggle to find foods that she can eat and not feel left out. Luckily, her friends have been amazing and always provide dye-free alternatives at parties and playdates. The most frustrating part has been when she has needed medication. Finding dye-free OTC meds is agonizing and anytime she needed antibiotics, there was only one type she could have that did not contain dye. She is also allergic to ibuprofen, so that added to the difficulty. It angers me to no end that the US has not banned these unnecessary and harmful ingredients from our food. (I finally decided to refrain from buying processed foods altogether, except occasionally from Trader Joe’s.) I am seeing signs of change, slowly. The grocery store Wegman’s recently eliminated all artificial dyes from their bakery and are making a sincere effort to remove it from all of their in-store made foods. We still have a long way to go, however.
It’s funny, I NEVER even thought to check the medicine until AFTER I gave it to my daughter. Not cool when your kids is already ill! Target has a good dye-free allergy medicine I keep on hand.
I am not surprised about the projectile vomiting. In the research I did, there seems to be a huge correlation to children who have acid reflux & milk allergies as babies. This allergy often turns into a dye allergy as they grow. My daughter spent the first year of her life as a puker and was on antacids until about a year.
Thank you for this article. I just shared with friends. One mom thinks it could be affecting both of her kids. I figured out artificial food (e.g. sugar) and dyes gives my son migraine headaches. Eliminating them from his diet stopped the headaches immediately. Good info!
My brother gets the same reaction from red food dye. My mom didn’t figure that out until he spent the entire week of boy scout camp with a migraine from the fruit punch!
@momma lew, my son gets horrible tics could the dye have something to do with it
I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING YOU WOULD PROBABLY BE BETTER OFF DISCUSSING WITH A DOCTOR. BEST OF LUCK!
I was shaking my head yes the whole time I read this. It’s exactly what I went thru with my son. 1st grade was a hard year. And we went to two different doctors concerning his adhd and that’s all they did was want to give him meds. Adult dosages for a 6 year old. It didn’t feel right. One doctor even said “don’t do anything crazy like change his diet. ” I knew then I’m the only one that has my child’s best interests. Took him off of dyes and yes immediately I saw a difference. I had my own share of doubters. But my son felt a difference. He asks all the time, “does this have dye?” I do my best to find dye free alternatives. But like you said its hard. Just glad I found out how to help him. Thanks for the read!
My son was just tested and has ADHD. We already new this as I also have it and we have the same issues. We have started him on Fish oil as well as watching food dies but as you mentioned EVERYTHING has them in it. Do you have websites or products you would suggest?
Right now, I don’t. I just read every label I come across before my daughter even looks at it (to avoid a fight).
Check out feingold.org and feingold association of the United States – ADHD diet Facebook page. They can provide what you are looking for. They are big proponents of dye free food and the organization is all volunteers who wholeheartedly believe in dye free.
12 years ago we found http://www.feingold.org and later http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info These websites absolutely saved my family and I thank God for making this information available. They are a great place to start. Order the Feingold membership and clean out your pantry. Many families report it takes time to notice a difference. Like the writer, our results were almost instant.
Kudos to you for figuring out the trigger!! My son has multiple food allergies, so we naturally avoid all the processed foods that include food dyes. HOWEVER, there might be a few that we still eat though (I’m thinking Dum Dum lollipops, but I’ll have to check!!). My daughter doesn’t have food allergies, so I’m sure she’s exposed to more food dyes than my son. Stories like yours always help remind me to be aware of what I’m feeding my kids, even if it IS safe from a food allergy perspective!!
Wishing you and your family health and happiness 🙂
WATCH OUT FOR ANNATTO, TOO. This is an important issue. There are many people who think we are crazy, overprotective parents, but it is REAL for our kids (and maybe some of theirs, too.) My son seemed to develop an intolerance to the NATURAL food color additive ANNATTO in grade 5. He had always been a little prone to brief episodes of hyperactivity after artificial colors, but this was extreme irritability and rage which led to new problems at school. Thankfully we figured out the trigger was annatto. Four years later we still make mistakes, but at least we know the enemy and our family (including my son) knows it is real. I share this because annatto is being used more and more as a replacement for artificial colors and many dye-avoiders think it is a good alternative. It may be for some, but not for others. The list of reported (by parents) adverse behavioral effects is long and includes hyperactivity, irritability and rage. You’ll find more info on the Food Intolerance Network’s website. Pay attention and make an informed decision before concluding that annatto is okay for your family.
Annatto, depending on the processes of extraction, may have other things carried along with it. Most extraction processes involve some other chemical to pull out the one they want. The Wikipedia page does suggest, however, that Annatto may be worse than several artificial food coloring agents. I don’t personally react to it, and I know red #40 gives me a migraine and fever.
Reading this makes my eyes wet. I could have written those exact same words years ago when my child had the same reaction after simply eating 5 Fruit Loops. She has been dye free for 5 years now. This also includes tattoos, toothpaste, laundry soap, hand soap, shampoo…anything that could have a color put into it. Yes…even seasonings…which we only learned of a few months ago.
She used to have stomaches, temper tantrums …now she produces feverish arms and headaches while in the background severe and immediate mood changes. Sometimes she will even “zone” out and not recall the current events.
I am very grateful to having found this site awhile ago and that it continues to document the color dye concern.
Thank you for sharing your story and giving additional legitimacy/documentation to this health issue. I will be sharing it.
Our son has struggled with sleep his whole life and after starting school teachers always told me that he could not focus, and he eastern distracted, it was an everyday thing. When he started 1st grade he had the same problem and he stared to have problems wit other kids, he will Herbert aggressive and mean, so we decided to test him for ADHD and while I waited I look into food dyes and discover the Feingold diet, we started him in the Feingold diet and after only a week of it we saw amazing results. We have eliminated all dyes, artificial sweeteners, corn syrup, preservatives and high fructose corn syrup and his teacher was below away by the difference, she told us that she could not believe is the same kid. He does not have ADHD but HFA and the function of his brain is tie to his gut that is why this diet has work winders for him. He now is a happy kid, who is going amazing at school academically and socially, we not longer have notes from school and her teacher is extremely proud of him . We thank God that he showed us to work in his diet. The diet with the nurture heart approach parenting has change our lives and our children, they are happy and successful children. We praise God for guide us to discover them!
This is amazing. I need to look this up!!!!!
Food plays such a huge part in our children’s lives. I removed gluten from my sons because he had ADHD, and i’ve seen a tremendous difference.
Did you ever consider the problem was dealing with the massive amounts of sugar you were feeding your child and that there might he some kind of issue there??? Because there are lots of verifiable illnesses dealing with sugar and …the reactions usually associated with food dyes begin with anaphylaxis and a trip to the hospital, so it would be very obvious. It always amazes me when people would rather follow the advice of a “friend on the Internet” than a medical professional that has spent most of their lives performing and studying the actual science of health. Pandering to ignorance at best, dangerous to one’s health at worst.
I am confused why you are ASSuming it was massive amounts of sugar? I see no issue in feeding my children frozen waffles for breakfast and if you do, well that is your opinion. The occasional treat of ice cream is really not an issue. You act as if I just spend all day shoving sugar down their throats. Hardly the case and anyone who knows me personally can verify for their well being.
Please find me a case where you can argue that food DYE is NOT dangerous.
We just took dyes out of my kids diet and have noticed a huge difference. They aren’t irritable anymore. They can sit and do school ( I home school) They aren’t fighting with each other all day long. And the tantrums have disappeared. I am so glad that I did this, and will continue because I feel these dyes are hurting kids.
Hi Reesa,
Great post. Thanks for sharing how food dyes affected your family.
I’m the Online Community Manager for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPInet.org). We have published a few studies on the affects synthetic food dyes have on sensitive children. We petitioned Mars to eliminate artificial food dyes and won. We’re currently petitioning the FDA to ban food dyes, and require warning labels in the meantime. See more: http://Change.org/BanFoodDyes
We’d love to connect with you to see how we might be able to work together. Please send me an email if you’re interested.
Thanks!
-Joey
Thank you to those who shared information about the Feingold Diet. It was a Godsend for my family, and the volunteer association that formed as a support group will be celebrating 40 years of service in May! There is a lot of (free) information on the web site http://www.feingold.org including Part One of “Why Can’t My Child Behave?” which explains the program.
Also, a few days ago I recorded a webinar hosted by the Virginia Parent Educational Advisory Training Center. You can listen to it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqIDUELoSlc
Today Feingold volunteers offer comprehensive information and support, including a list of acceptable brand name foods running 400 pages long!
There’s even a book of acceptable menu items at many of the major fast food chains!
Thank you so much for sharing this!!! I need to spend A LOT of time pouring through this info!
That is so crazy that food dye will do that to someone. I never even knew it could do that. I am going to see if that is what causes part of our problems as well.
Thank you for sharing this information. I know food dyes aren’t good for you but I didn’t know it could get this bad. I’m glad you were able to figure out what the issue was with your daughter.
Thank you for sharing your story. I’m sure this will help a lot of people. I will make sure to pass this info on to other parents.
This is absolutely astonishing! I had no idea it could have such a dramatic effect. What a blessing you figured that out!
I’ve been wondering if this is what is going with my twins. I leave town tomorrow but when I get back I’m going to switch up what I’m feeding them – thanks for sharing!
It’s crazy how many things contain food dyes. As a parent we have enough to worry about – and there is so much we aren’t odorless about either. Thanks for sharing your story!
I honestly didn’t know that food dyes could do that. I should cut out the food dyes and see if it makes a difference in my oldest daughter. She’s been a bit crazy lately.
I totally believe this! Chemicals in our foods have a big impact on our kids behavior.
Wow! Makes total sense to me. I love the natural alternatives to regular food coloring.
Wow. I knew food dye was horrible for you, but I never realized how bad it could be. Thanks for sharing your story!
Food dye is on almost every children’s food. This is a very helpful and a great post. Thank you for sharing this!
Thanks for sharing about this! I never knew that food dyes caused this many things but it makes sense! Glad your daughter is doing better now that she is consuming less food dye.
Reading this as a mother, that is so scary. I am glad you figured out that cause and now avoid it as much as possible.
I am always looking for products that have no added dyes. Red dye in particular gives my kids a terrible reaction. It can be so hard to find but worth it.
My Son was a very hyper kid. I never thought to try cutting out the food dye back then. I did see a difference when we reduced his sugar intake. I wish I would have tried cutting out food dyes. I bet it would have made a big difference.
Food dye is in almost everything. I have a hard time finding products the kids like that do not have a ton of additives. I am so glad you found out what was causing the problem for your Daughter.
This is an old post but I wonder how things have gone with your daughter. My child reacts to dyes in the same way and things are better when she is not at school or sports activities where other kids inevitably share items with dye. She knows what will happen yet she rarely resists the dye. I have tried talking to teachers and school officials and even when they have rules about not sharing food, they can’t/aren’t enforced. Therefore much of the year my daughter is in a state of disregulation due to dyes and i am powerless to do anything about it. I will probably have to put her on some kind of medication (if one can be found that will be helpful) because the dyes not only make her angry and sad, but they also result in her getting in trouble due to dye fueled behavior. I have looked everywhere for help and have found non, but I was wondering whether in the long term, you were able to keep your daughter dye free.
Thank you for asking! My daughter’s school is very strict about sharing food. I will say, that now that she is older (she was 4 at the time of this post, now almost 9), she doesn’t react AS bad. However, depending on the item she still has reactions — fruit juice or m&m’s are 2 things that stick out in my head. Sometimes it takes us awhile to put 2 and 2 together.
@Elise Wilder, the fact food dye is nearly ubiquitous in foods and causes so many known problems speaks of a possible deliberate conspiracy. It’s possibly another tentacle of ‘Big Pharma’ out for greater sales and profits, or globalists with a giant cabal of hundreds of big corporations deliberately making it happen. The motive of the second would be, like everything else they do, to dumb down, weaken and destroy America and get it out of the way of a world government. The CIA has run research projects in the past with the goal of finding poisons that are hard to discern. We know the lockstep media work to provide cover for anything globalists want. It has taken diligent moms to discover and teach others about food dye problems. Most if not all of the state federal government people paid to look out for us are not worth their pay and agency budgets. We might as well shut their jobs and agencies all down, save the money, and switch to just during broke and pulling the charters of the corporations selling these poisons and putting them in food.
HI there, I know this is from a few years back but any updates? How is your daughter doing now? We have the exact same thing happening and our family is now on a whole foods diet so to speak because as you said it is in everything..Not to mention other additives such as High Fructose corn syrup…Makes my daughter crazy!
Funny because I was thinking I should do an update. She is 8 now, almost 9. She is not AS bad as she once was and I will say that I am not as vigilant with what she eats as I once was. However, there are days I know when she overdid it on either candy or other types of things.
Hey there- just wanted to pop in and say that this article literally changed our lives. I first read it about three years ago, after doing some searching on the internet involving my son’s complete emotional meltdowns. We’ve since banned all food dye, we do not allow treats, we do not allow ‘ok but just this once’ because it’s a nightmare. We’ve also banned artificial sugars and certain preservatives and the difference we see between our son and other kids is astounding. I share your article with everyone I know who mentions emotional or behavioral problems. Thanks so much 😀
Thank you for sharing this with me! I love hearing this and it makes this blog totally worth it knowing this!
Add us to the huge list of people that are having problems with food coloring! For us, it was the all-natural annatto. We even wrote a short blog post about it: https://wetried.it/toddler-night-terrors-annatto/
Hope everyone here finds what’s causing their little ones to not sleep!
WOW!!!!! This is intriguing. I have never heard of this before! My daughter eats gold fish like they are going out of style. hmmm!!!
People should be aware that these same reactions to artifical colors happen with adults as well. Like ADD/ADHD, it is not always something that children outgrow. I’m 46 and discovered only 3 years ago that Red 40 has been the lifelong culprit of my rage episodes. The day we figured it out, I was so unreasonably angry that I’m pretty sure my head spun all the way around like I was possessed. The reason I’m commenting here is because kids can’t express to you what it does to them, so please understand that they really cannot control what is happening. While I looked like a awful child/adult when dosed, I felt worse on the inside because I couldn’t stop the reaction. I thought I was crazy and felt as if someone else had taken control and I could only watch the episodes happen. It’s a very difficult thing to explain, but just be vigilant about removing any trace of the dyes and it will get so much better. I just wish I hadn’t lost so many years being unaware of the food dye sensitivity.
I have found safe replacements for nearly all of my favorite foods and as long as I always read the ingredients and avoid food with unknown ingredients, I’m just fine.
I know what you feel. I am 11 years ild and allergic to Red#40. Its hard I cant live like a normal kid. I cant buy food without having to check the ingredients. Half of my halloween candy goes to my brother. Even white frosting can have red#40. Its hard to live like this my old kindergarden teacher almost killed me twice. Which is why I changed schools. So yeah I know what you and your daughter have to go through.
I am sorry you are going through this. My daughter is now 10 and still suffers from food dyes. Thank you for opening up on my post about food dyes.
My daughter was taking tantrums from the age of 2-10. I was at my wits end and also felt like I was failing as a mother. I had one doctor tell me that I was the problem. I felt hopeless. One day a friend of mine said that she heard that red40 could cause aggressive behavior. I immediately eliminated it from her diet. Within a few days she was so much calmer. We also found that yellow and blue also cause similar behavior and headaches. I often think of all the kids that are being medicated for their behavior that may only need to adjust their diet. Why don’t pediatricians suggest that dyes may be the culprit? Anyway, There are some countries that ban red40. I wish companies would start to use a healthier alternative!
I have ADHD (Inattentive) and I have had horrible headaches and pains from this. American food hurts me and I have almost no other options since it is in almost everything and foods without it can be expensive. I have noticed the differences when I am able to avoid them, and there is just one correction I would make.
These food dyes do not cause ADHD, since ADHD/ADD is a neurological difference, not a disease. However, these dyes can make symptoms worse in people with ADHD/ADD and other neurodivergency, and they can cause ADHD-like symptoms in people without it. But nothing CAUSES ADHD. It’s just a different brain function, not an illness.
And, I want to be clear. Yes, people with ADHD, like me, struggle and are considered disabled in this modern world, but it is not because we have a disease. It is because our brains, the way they developed over time, and our form of neurodivergence, which is the minority compared to neurotypicals, doesn’t fit the bill of what society wants from people. We don’t fit the environment, and the environment doesn’t fit us, and that is something we have to, unfortunately, deal with and we cannot change to just not have a neurodivergent brain.
Other than that, great piece! I assume you don’t think of ADHD as a disease and perhaps it was a typo or uninformed choice of phrasing. Thank you for the information and experiences you shared.
Does it change the color of your stool?
Yes sometimes.
36 old dutch woman with autism and ADHD here. Most food dyes you mention are forbidden in Europe, but not all of them and boy did we pay the price. I always had behavioral problems as a kid, even when accounting for my being on the spectrum.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I ate blue cotton candy at the local fair. I wasn’t grumpy from being tired. I didn’t even have an autistic meltdown. Oh no. It was far worse. Satan had risen from the food dye colored pits of hell and was taking 9 year old me for a ride that lasted nearly three full days. Our doctor agreed this wasn’t normal and referred us to a dietitian that put me on an elimination diet. I became a completely different child after that.
Fast forward to today. I still live at home and have locked myself in and barricaded the door. No one is to talk to me, my mom will leave some food outside my door in a few hours and my dad feels guilty as hell. Reason? the bathroom light broke yesterday and I accidentally used his blue mouthwash.
Take this seriously, people. Maybe you or your kid will see no change after the elimination diet and you lost a couple of weeks of eating Skittles. You’ll live.
I would also like to add that some natural food dyes can pose a risk too! I have a bad reaction to cochenille (carmine) red, which is made from a certain species of lice. Perfectly natural, but enough to drive me up the wall.
I’ve been a whole food plant based eater for about 4 years now, being very careful if I don’t cook the food myself, which means I haven’t been ingesting any food dyes or preservatives for that long. The other day I got a strong craving for Captain Crunch Cereal, an old favorate snack. A few hours later I had intestinal cramps that didn’t resolve until I eliminated (soft mucusy fouls smelling stool). I didn’t eat any the next day and I felt fine. I was stubborn tho, and convinced myself it wasn’t the cereal. This time I ate it in the afternoon instead of the evening. (the first time the cramps woke me from a sound sleep). By bedtime, same deal, but even worse.
No other incredients have ever given me this problem..not the sugar, salt, coconut or palm oil, not the corn or oat, not vitamins or iron. The only things left are BHT and Yellow Dye #5. Which it was, the dye or the preservative I can’t be sure but I’ll be keeping an eye on this. I used to eat both all the time, I’m sure, but when you stop that stuff completely for a few years, the body lets you know it doesn’t want it back again, thank you very much.
My 3 year old became so unsafe that we could no longer leave the house. He would climb things in stores, hit and tease, run away hide, all while laughing at me.
I took him off the candy and noticeable dyes but couldn’t figure out why he went crazy when he ate grilled cheese. I thought it was a bread allergy but turned out it was hidden dye
It’s instant and night and day flip of a switch and tapers off about 2 days later
I am highly allergic to red dye. My entire body will swell to the point I can’t breathe. I’m so glad that people are starting to realize it’s a problem and have started coming up with alternatives! My favorite thing in the world to do is to bake and make fancy cakes but my allergy has prevented me for a long time.
Hello,
My son also would not sleep. One night after a week of sleep deprivation I started looking at what he’d need eating. He had conned my husband into a very large box of popsicles all contained red dye 40. We withheld them and we were amazed at the change. And good night sleep. One source of due that we don’t always think about is medications. My son is now 21 and on a thyroid medication. He was reacting badly. (Lack of sleep outbursts of anger). I finally tracked down the inactive ingredients on his meds. Red dye. Not listed which one but I don’t have to guess. My problem is his doctor says it is such a small amount it really isn’t what is causing it. 😵💫. She actually said that these are things that cause problems with children not adults What’s the difference if he was sensitive to them as a child he will still be sensitive as an adult. Do you know of any studies done on the effects of dye on adults? Thanks, Cindy
I actually don’t, but I don’t doubt it one bit that food dyes would effect adults!
My Dad and I suffered for 2 years with severe hives. My skin would be on fire. We both cut red dye out of diets and our hives have stopped.
I never had issues until later in life. It has now been a few years that we are dye free and it does get easier. A lot of companies are starting to use natural dyes. Before we knew what was causing our hives, we were taking Benadryl for the itching and guess what…Benadryl had red dye in it! We now use dye-free Benadryl.
Red dye 40 is destroying our life. I’ve been able to control it but now that she is in school and plays with friends, she is sneaking it. I’m a single Mom and can’t homeschool right now. I’ve told teachers, parents, doctors and no one takes it seriously. The meltdowns are so bad now that she destroys the house and hurts me and herself. She is only 6 year old. She seeks out red dye like an addict. She even ate red play dough. I welcome an advice on how to control this. Do I keep her locked up at home and not play with the other kids? Have you had any luck finding a doctor that takes this seriously? The allergist says that can’t test for a red dye allergy which I think is odd.
The pediatrician never really took me seriously TBH. My daughter is 11 now and seems to know better now. She has for a long time. As soon as she realized it was making her feel awful.
My son and one of my daughter have the same issue. For my son, it went away at around 6-7 years-old, but for my daughter (who is 9), it continues. So I have dealt with night terrors for about 14 years :(. We figured out the food coloring was a problem when my son was around 3. My second daughter was fine, but it’s the worst for my third. At the worst parts, her night terrors come back every hour. And yes you guessed it, it’s when she eats coloring, especially red. She was ok for a while, and at Christmas, she had a red cool-aid. It started again then and hasn’t stopped since. We monitor everything pretty closely and have found alternatives for treats and candies, but it is hard because coloring is everywhere, even Ginger Ale that she likes so much. Needless to say that we are exhausted and the night terrors are still scary to me. I find that melatonin helps, but it could be in my head.
I started detoxing my son of food dyes but what are the symptoms of detox? He is currently constipated and I’m trying to figure out if it’s due to the detox or the new fruit snacks without dye.
I am not really sure, we never found any symptoms.
Hi,
Just looking for information on D&C yellow 10 and I came across your article. My 15 year old daughter had very rough toddler years. I finally read about an elimination diet and tried it when she was almost 5. By this point she’d been kicked out of daycare and put in a special preschool, and kindergarten, given me a black eye and many other bruises and terrorized her twin brother. This is what dyes, additives and preservatives did to her:
Red dye-screaming, cursing, hitting, kicking monster.
Yellow5&6-elopement, trying to “get away”, later she described it as itchy blood inside her. Annatto and Vanillin also do this to her.
Blue-hyperactive, wired, couldn’t sleep for over 30 hours.
MSG & artificial flavorings-depressed or angry. Completely miserable.
This was all with the tiniest amount, one yellow starburst, red blowpop, half a small blue lollipop etc. Reactions were almost all within a half hour. They lasted between 2 and 36 hours.
The meds that we tried prior to this were filled with dyes and other dangerous ingredients. (None of them helped her until we found Intuniv which is a white pill with no dyes.)
I wish the US had stricter rules about dyes and other food/drink additives. It would help so many people.
I have my own issues with dyes as an older adult. I have found that I am very allergic to dyes in things like soap and shampoos. I had very bad eczema. I cleared up for a few months when I removed all dye from everything I used. I carry my own soap with me every where I go. Then all the sudden my eczema came back bad like when I was using products with dyes in them. Now I am looking at dyes in food to see if my eczema might go away again. I have been really struggling with eczema again. I liked to eat peanut M&Ms and I found they have all sorts of dyes in them. Now I am reading all labels on everything I buy. I have been reading labels for years seeing my husband has celiac disease, so I was checking for wheat and now for dyes. I have had nothing with dyes in it for 3 days now. My eczema is a little better but still bad. I am hoping that my eczema will go away again soon. I have tried to rule out everything else so here I am with the food dye question, wondering if that is not causing me my issues.
My son gets violent and absolutely cannot obey any directives… it’s awful!
If you all think this is bad, wait till the same stuff starts happening to you & you begin digging into those beauty products you’ve been using all these years and trusted considering the govt said the ingredients the companies used a these years were safe and now decades later those ingredients are slowly creeping back up in discussion but many have already landed on the European hot banned list now as a known carcinogen. Most of this the FDA et al has said as “GENERALLY safe for use” however “further testing must be conducted to determine conclusively either way” & nothing is done about it. And yet it’s then placed on this country’s safe list instead of where it belongs on the banned or not safe or a new list like questionable then requiring companies to massively put huge flashing warning signs on the labels when they do choose to use those items.
Look you don’t have to really ask why even though I’ve done that lol ALOT in fact but it’s just to prove my point. It doesn’t take it a rocket scientist to do these jobs if the right intentions were there those being the more early sounds ones. Some accountability definitely needs to happen and I mean yesterday. Because I frankly just don’t have time to do all this stuff and keep my family safe and I shouldn’t have to to be honest because frankly the only reason they even have jobs is because we are paying them essentially. We don’t have firing or clean company house authority. I’m happy to given someone hands me that torch but until then, pls do your jobs cuz we cannot on moral grounds to continue this way being fine with making this country’s youth and children very sick or God forbid killing them. Shame on you & you know who you are.
absolutely!
I knew food dyes were bad but I had no idea I would see such a difference in my son’s behavior so quickly. I don’t usually give him food with dyes but my sister brought her kids over with candy and juices all containing blue 1, yellow 5, and red 40! I thought a little bit wouldn’t hurt surely…. Only a few hours later my son was having fits of anger and frustration screaming and tensing up his whole body- something I’d never seen him do before! He was so agitated! This occurred a few more times throughout the day. I hope it’s out of his system tomorrow and my baby is back to his happy self.
This completely matches our experience. Thank you. “Experts” don’t believe their eyes and ears, it has to be in a peer reviewed paper.
I have reactions to yellow dye, both when I eat it and when i apply it to my skin ( shampoos and conditioner, skin lotions). When I eat it, my lips swell and chap within minutes. On my skin? My eyelids swell and blister, hives everywhere.
Amazingly, no dr could tell me to check this although I had been going to several for skin issues since I was a child. I had a really bad skin reaction one day and went through everything new I had used. Hair conditioner was the only thing and comparing ingredients, yellow dye was the only difference. So, I started reading labels on everything and it was stunning how many things contained dye. My home became an ingredient home for cooking, no prepackaged anything and I can find dye free for health and beauty aids like no one else.
And along with no more constant chapped lips I also no longer have migraines, eczema, or other rashes. I sleep better. My daughter and I both feel amazing and do everything we can without artificial food dyes. For example,we had a great time during Easter eggs with foods!!!
We went through the same thing. Add to all of the symptoms our daughter gets hives. Blistering hives! Even on her face! The doctors had no clue. So a friend of mine who had a nutritional background suggested an elimination diet and it worked. I am so passed the point where people think I’m nuts, but my daughter is relieved that she has relief from all the symptoms. Food allergies are not something that can be played with. It means extra work in the kitchen but we are all healthier for the change because her dad and I decided to avoid food dyes as well.
I found your site mostly because my daughter (who is now 8yr) asked if there is a way to make Christmas tree cookies without food dyes and I did a search and landed here. Thank you for your time in researching this information. I praise the Lord for it!
You’re welcome! Did you see my post on natural food dyes? https://www.mommalew.com/16-substitutes-for-food-coloring/
I’m wanting to start I wish I had started sooner I’ve had my son full time since Thanksgiving. I split 50/50 custody with my children’s dad. My son has a lot of behavior issues and his dad blames me but the Dr. said he has ADHD. I really thank this will be great for him