News Flash: 4 Food Additives Banned

🍭 4 Food Additives Banned in California

A new law in California that bans 4 common food additives will go into effect at the beginning of 2027.

That may seem far off, but here’s what we can all take away from this right now:

1️⃣ The banned additives are Red Dye No. 3 (in candy canes and other candies), Brominated Vegetable Oil (a flavor stabilizer in sodas), Potassium Bromate (a leavening agent), and Propylparaben (a preservative).

2️⃣ The additives are banned because of research raising concerns about cancer, reproductive issues, and neurobehavioral problems—particularly in children.

3️⃣ These additives are already banned in the European Union and many other countries.

There was one other additive initially on the list: titanium dioxide. That one is banned in the E.U. because of concerns that it can damage DNA.

Where do you stand?

Are you concerned about food additives or no?

Reference

California Food Safety Act [link]

Food Additives & Gut Health

🤯🤯🤯 Shocker! 

Scientists have just discovered that chronic exposure to red food dye may lead to inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s and colitis. 

💡 To be clear—the study was conducted in mice. 

I know lots of people will be tempted to put on their blinders and say there’s no proof this is true in humans (fact), but…

This is the usual progression of science. 

We learn mechanisms in the lab and in animal studies and then only through longer and more involved studies figure out what really happens in living and breathing humans. 

Red food dye (Allura red or FD&C Red 40) is a common food additive in everything from breakfast cereal to beverages to chips. 

👉 It’s especially common in foods marketed to kids. 

This latest study (in Nature Communications 2022) found that chronic exposure to red food dye:

🔥 Disrupted gut function in mice, leading to changes consistent with colitis. 

☠️ Triggered changes in the gut that included increased production of serotonin and increased intestinal permeability (leaky gut). 

🚸 Primed mice for an increased risk of colitis especially when exposed early in life. 

So here’s the question I put to you:

Is it worth the risk?

Reference

Kwon YH, Banskota S, Wang H, et al. Chronic exposure to synthetic food colorant Allura Red AC promotes susceptibility to experimental colitis via intestinal serotonin in mice. Nat Commun. 2022;13(1):7617. [link]