Keep color clean

Is food coloring really food? According to the FDA, synthetic food dyes are actually manufactured from petroleum. There used to be many more dyes in circulation, such as Yellow #1, #2, #3, and #4, but so many of these dyes have since been made illegal that here in the US we are left with seven legal colors, including Yellow #5, Red #40, and Blue #1. In the European Union and Canada, all of these dyes are either banned or require warning labels (this Forbes article gives more interesting details).

Personally, knowing that these dyes are so strictly regulated in the EU is enough to convince me to steer clear, but if you aren't quite convinced, perhaps a recent article published by the American Academy of Pediatrics will change your mind - The organization has officially acknowledged that there is a link between artificial food dyes and hyperactivity in children. This type of neurobehavioral toxicity is not okay in my household, so we choose not to eat foods that contain artificial colors. 

How can you avoid artificial colors in food? There are a couple of simple steps you can take to greatly reduce your consumption of these dyes:

• Choose foods that clearly state that they contain "no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives" - Organic foods are not allowed to use artificial dyes, and some stores like Trader Joe's promise that their products contain no artificial dyes. Be sure to check things like vitamins and medication, too - Here is a visual list of some common foods that you might not expect to contain artificial dyes. 
• Whenever possible, make food from scratch instead of purchasing processed foods - Take an extra few minutes to make frosting yourself (yum!) instead of using store-bought frosting, cook oatmeal and add actual strawberries to it instead of purchasing strawberry-flavored oatmeal, etc. 
• If you're set on making red and green Christmas cookies, invest in a set of natural dyes for home use - Unless you want a hyperactive toddler during the holidays, I'd say it is worth an extra few dollars to keep your color clean :)