Removing dyes from foods

[Lamb]

I think it's about time that the US finally removed some of the dyes from foods that the Europeans banned a long time ago. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[tango]

Part of the issue is in educating consumers about the dye and that removing it makes no difference to the food.

As a child I remember a brand of processed peas I enjoyed. As you'd expect from peas they were green. Not the kind of green you'd expect from peas, a much bolder green. Then they took the coloring out and the peas went from being a chemically enhanced green to, well, the kind of green you'd expect if you cooked peas and put them in a can. I didn't like the look of them and from what I recall from my parents' comments there were many customers who didn't like the look of them. Because, you know, peas are green and not this muted color.

Colors in candy have caused issues with making kids hyperactive for decades, and yet still we use them. You'd almost be forgiven for thinking there's extra profit to be made in keeping people unhealthy.

 

[Frankj]

It needs to be considered as to why they are added in the first place.

A little story from bygone days that might explain it:

During the depression years people often sold apples on the streets, both the Japanese growers and the American growers both directly and selling them to other vendors as well.

The Japanese quickly figured out that apples in brightly wrapped cellophane wrappers outsold apples that were not and outsold other sellers who were perceived to be selling less desirable apples (even though they were often all the same apples).

The lesson from this carries over to dyes in out food so I pose the question: Are laws really the best way to remove dyes -and other harmful substances- from our food supply?