Does anyone know anything about Tartrazine? I’ve been reading more and more about it, and from I gather, Canadian products do not have to list it in it’s ingredients listing – it merely has to list it as “colour”. Reading about the ill effects it has on so many people, particularly children, has had me thinking. And documenting. And I have noticed a change in Gracie’s behaviour after consuming products that have this suspicious “colour” ingredient. I had originally banned MSG from the household because girlfriend was literally hallucinating and had a racy heart after consuming the stuff, but know I’m wondering if it is maybe Tartrazine to blame. I too have a history of anxiety, headaches etc. I find it all very suspect. Any info anyone has on this would be appreciated.
Uh, that was a boring post. Sorry about that. I’m am on vacation as of tomorrow, hopefully I’ll return to my charming, witty self upon my return! Until then:
2 comments:
Our son, Captain Jelly Belly, has lots of food allergies and there are still a few things that bother him for no known reason. One thing that we have long suspected is Tartrazine. It is a yellow food colour so you find it in most yellow, green, or blue-green candies, and also in most things that are artificially chocolate flavoured (like chocolate syrup or chocolate pudding). I guess the yellow helps brighten up the brown colour.
Our son is also allergic to milk, but we are not sure why. He does not react to the purified milk protein solution that our allergist uses, but he does react when they do an allergy-prick test with actual over-the-counter milk. One possibility is that he is allergic to tartrazine, because (I hear) some farmers feed it to their cows because it makes the milk a nice, bright colour. I have also heard that some farmers feed it to their chickens to make the yolk of their eggs really really yellow -- our son is also allergic to eggs.
Unfortunately there is no doctor-based test for tartrazine allergy -- you can't get a purified form of tartrazine for use in a prick-test. You just have to remove it from their diet as best as you can and see if there is any improvement.
We have tried to remove it from our son's diet as best we can. He doesn't get anything chocolate (except milk-free chocolates and cookies that I make myself from pure cocoa), we have eliminated most hard candies, and of course, no milk or eggs.
Good luck!
My food motto is always to buy everything in it's most organic, natural form. Anything with ingredients that aren't actually food, I try not to buy. Whatever has been discovered about tartrazine or MSG or any of the other things they periodically "discover" has bad side effects, is just the tip of the iceberg, I believe. All these additives, preservatives, enhancements carry unusuable and potentially dangerous chemicals into our system on their own and in combination with other elements. Our bodies have to find a way to process all this crap and it's not going to be processed in a positive way most of the time. It takes longer to do your food shopping and it may be more expensive and you have to prepare a lot more meals, but eating more consciously will benefit you and your family in the long run and really, what could be more important than your health and what you choose to feed your body?
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