Food Dyes are a Problem. But There's a Bigger One...
We review data on Food Dyes and inflammatory disease. Then, we size up the real problem.
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The debate over the potential harms of artificial food dyes has taken center stage in recent months given the army of protestors that swarmed the Kellogg’s headquarters in Michigan in October, collecting >400,000 signatures to protest the presence of artificial food dyes in foods like children’s breakfast cereal.
Is there actually cause for concern, or is this just bluster and hype? And, also, what does RFK Jr. likely not know about Food Dyes? …
Unless he reads this letter ;) …
Food Dyes Are “Safe”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it has reviewed and evaluated the effects of color additives and believes that most children have no adverse effects when consuming them.
But here’s the problem… what are they safety testing for?
There’s a big difference between saying food dyes have no adverse effects and there isn’t strong evidence that food dyes have any particular adverse effect because, if you never ask the question properly, you won’t have evidence of harm.
This is the difference between absence of evidence and evidence of absence. It’s science 101.
I’m going to highlight that important fact by reviewing data suggesting that the most common food dye in the world, Red 40, which has an annual production exceeding 2.3 million kilograms and is found in foods like M&Ms, Fruit Loops, Yogurts, Pastries, Popsicles, Sports Drinks, Gum and so on, may contribute to inflammatory bowel disease in vulnerable people.
Now pause for a BIG POINT…
My job here is not going to be to prove without a shadow of a doubt that Red 40 causes a negative outcome, but simply to show that in the context of never having properly asked a key question about the risk of Red 40, the evidence actually seems to suggest it could be putting a population at risk.
And “could” here is an important word in the context of confident claims of safety. In fact, paraphrasing from the paper, “The colitis-inducing properties of Red 40 in [susceptible hosts] are in contrast to its reported safety profile.” (Citation, World Health Organization)
Now, the paper in question was published the prestigious science journal Cell Metabolism and is entitled, “Food colorants metabolized by commensal bacteria promote colitis in mice with dysregulated expression of interleukin-23.”
In it, the authors reveal a mechanism whereby, in susceptible hosts, the Food Dyes Red 40 and Yellow 6 can be metabolized by gut bacteria and increase inflammation in the intestines to promote inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Now, to be clear this was a mouse study. However, I want to highlight this mechanism is interesting since the pathways in question intersects with known IBD treatments.
Specifically, the pathway is dependent on an inflammatory molecule, IL-23, which is a drug target of prescribed drugs for IBDs (e.g. Stelara [Ustekinumab]), including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
So, already on the surface think makes sense…
Food Dyes interact with a pathway known to play some role in IBDs.
And Westernized Diets with high levels of these dyes also associate with IBD.
And in a susceptible animal model with high IL-23, these Food Dyes can trigger colitis.
Anyway, in terms of the data in this study, when they fed susceptible mice human foodstuffs with Red 40, like Kool-Aid or Pedialyte cherry punch, the mice developed colitis.
But they did not develop colitis when they got a similar solution without the Red 40 (Figure 1 F – H).
What you’re seeing in this figure is that when susceptible mice are given Red40 or human foods with Red40, they develop inflammation in their intestines. However, when they’re given control solution without Red40, they’re fine.
Mechanistically, this effect was found to be dependent on transformation of the Food Dyes by common microbes in the gut into a compound called 1-amino-2-naphthol-6-sulfonate sodium (ANSA-Na), although jargon isn’t particularly important.
What’s important is that the Red 40, and also Yellow 6, Food Dyes can trigger colitis in a susceptible mouse model that is dependent on microbiome metabolism. Here, the true emphasis is on “susceptible” organisms. An underlaying vulnerability, here related to high levels of the inflammatory cytokine, IL-23, was required in order for the Food Dye to trigger colitis.
That said, there is huge variation in how different humans express different biomolecules, including IL-23, which – again – is known to play a role in human IBDs.
So, presumably, this predisposition to colitis exists in the population. And – in effect – consuming certain Food Dyes might be akin to playing roulette with your health, since you don’t know what vulnerabilities you have until it’s too late.
And, importantly, the doses used were modest.
Quoting from the paper, “[Red 40] promotes the generation of a T cell-mediated response that leads to colitis, even when used at doses that are lower than those considered safe in humans (the acceptable daily intake is 7 mg/kg body weight).”
Beyond Inflammatory Bowel disease
But this conversation isn’t really about colitis, is it?
It’s about this bigger idea that absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence. And just because we haven’t documented the impact of a food additive on a given outcome or chronic disease, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have that impact in vulnerable subjects.
And when you scale this to tens of thousands of additives with questionable long-term safety testing and drop those in a massive human population with a huge mix of disease susceptibilities… well… the inevitable result is poor health outcomes.
But that begs the question, what to do?
And, honestly, here’s my hot take:
Food Dyes may not be great… they may come with risks. But if you’re really invested in being healthy, or promoting good health in the next generation, then go a step further because Froot Loops made with natural food dyes is still a bowl of sugar.
The Food Dye conversation is – in my opinion – a distraction from bigger conversations we need to be having about the Food Environment, and a problem that can be easily circumvented on an individual level if you just choose with your dollars not to purchase Froot Loops and Sugary Sports drinks and Candy.
Have eggs for breakfast, drink water.
Trying to “fix” Froot Loops by changing Food Dyes is like trying to fix a car with two wheels by painting a flame on the side and yelling “vroom!”
I know, I’m going to get some heat for being dismissive, but that’s my present position.
With that, #StayCurious #StayReasonable, and as best you can, kick sugar and your health will thank you food it.
P.S. Yes, of course there will be a long-form video on this topic in future. Therein, I may also be able to provide options/tools for those who “want their metabolic health and cereal too.” I believe in options, and individual choice that is informed. Stay Tuned and Subscribe to my YouTube and turn “on” notification to get pinged when this video drops.
I think it's easy for adults to choose to avoid the sugary junk food that also happens to have dyes. But what is so, so hard is navigating this with children. Until I had children myself, I had no idea how much sugar and processed foods children are offered all the time, eveywhere. I don't buy it, but these foods are still offered at school, by friends/family, of course at parties. I try to do what I can, like bringing lots of better options anywhere we go and setting some boundaries. I would love to have any improvement to the food that's constantly offered to my children everywhere we go, even if it is an improvement on junk.
The first time I read a headline about the dyes in Fruit Loops I laughed. The irony of bring concerned about the dyes in Fruit Loops, but otherwise not concerned. I'm old enough to remember when they were introduced. Of course we asked Mom to buy them. My siblings and I all agreed that weren't very good. We went back to good stuff, Frosted Flakes, Sugar Pops, and Sugar Smacks :)