KTK-Nutrition

Many food companies are responding to federal pressure to remove artificial food dyes from their products.    Mounting evidence links synthetic  food dyes  like Red 40 and Yellow 5 to behavioral issues such as hyperactivity and even allergic reactions-especially in children- so the pressure is on to reformulate foods.    Because the FDA has a 2025 initiative to phase out petroleum-based dyes, the food industry is responding.         What is the FDA  Initiative ? In April 2025, the head of the Food and Drug Administration announced they were working to eliminate several artificial food dyes including Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, and Blue 2.    Another dye, Red 3 is scheduled to be banned by 2027 as research has found it caused cancer in laboratory rats.    Additionally, FDA announced it was approving “four new natural additives”.   📊 How prevalent are artificial food dyes in our foods? A...

Lunchables are a very popular lunch kit for kids.   And Lunchables are served in some school lunch rooms.   Consumer Reports is out with an article, Should You Pack Lunchables for Your Kid’s School Lunch?   This article created a firestorm in the media.   The reason is that Consumer Reports found that some of these popular prepackaged meals contain relatively high levels of lead, cadmium, and sodium.    What products did the Consumer Reports test? They tested 12 store-bought Lunchables and similar prepackaged meal kits for lead and used the food label for sodium content. CR measured lead in terms of percentage of California’s maximum allowable dose level.   The sodium % is the percentage of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.   What products were tested and what are the lead and sodium percentages? (Table adapted from Lead and Sodium in Lunch Products .) Lunchable Lead % Sodium % Lunchables Turkey and Cheddar...