Recently, the Coca-Cola company decided to stop selling food products (read breakfast cereals, snacks and drinks) in the UK that contained artificial dyes. Bravo Coca-Cola and to all the other companies that decided to do this! Bravo for listening to the hoards of consumers in the UK who decided to fight back and won! Here is the glitch though, despite knowing that consumers do not want these dyes in their food and the harm they can do these companies, like Kraft and McDonald’s, still continue to produce these items for us folks here in the US.
Mad now?
I am.
Why should you fight back?
There are definite links from artificial food dyes used in our food to children and hyperactivity. If that is not enough, it is simply not natural to have these items in our food. Chemicals of any kind like this will cause problems. Maybe not now, but later. After years of ingesting this stuff it begins to work it’s artifical dye “magic” and do we really want that pumping through our kids systems and our own? I think not.
“Kraft’s market research in the United Kingdom has shown a “much higher interest” in food dyes than in the United States. Here, consumers are more interested in calorie, fat and sodium content, he said. So in the U.S., Kraft, Mars and others use artificial dyes, which tend to be less expensive and look more vibrant than natural colorings.
Artificial food dyes, which are primarily derived from petroleum and coal tars, are a staple in breakfast cereals, snacks and soft drinks.”
As Americans we consume twice as much food with dye in it now than we did decades ago. It is in everything from Lunchables, fast foods and our drinks. We need to be more vigilant about what we put into our bodies people. We need to realize that we don’t have to just chew and swallow whatever food items companies put out there for us. We have the power as American citizens to fight back and demand better quality and control of our food.
Ready to fight back? I know you are busy but we’re talking about your health and your family’s health here. Start now. It’s easy!
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has a wealth of information and a sample letter to send to companies.
Write or call the 1-800 numbers of companies like Kraft, McDonald’s, Mars and Coca-Cola today and let them know how you feel! It worked in the UK, it can work here.
