New research reveals the average American may consume more
synthetic ingredients than they think.
Data spearheaded by UNC researcher Elizabeth Dunford with Gillings
Global School of Public Health revealed nearly 20% of the most popular food and
beverage products in the United States contain synthetic dyes.
“We found also that products marketed to children had
significantly higher proportions containing synthetic dyes compared to the rest
of the food supply,” Dunford said.
The researcher and her team used Label Insight’s database to
evaluate 39,763 products sold in American grocery stores and produced by the country’s
top 25 food manufacturers.
“It comes as no surprise we also found that products containing
these dyes also were much higher in sugar,” Dunford added. “So, important
findings for consumers and important findings for the food industry.”
The average sugar content of products containing synthetic
dyes was 141% higher than products without the dyes.
Dunford shared the products most likely to contain synthetic
dyes in the top five food categories often marketed to children were candies,
sugar-sweetened beverages, ready meals, breakfast cereals, and baked goods.
The data also found synthetic dyes were commonly listed on
ingredient lists of popular sports drinks, beverage concentrates, and
carbonated beverages.
“What we found most surprising is we saw these synthetic
dyes in products even I wasn’t expecting, even as someone expert in this area.
Things like taco shells, hot dog buns, blueberry bagels, waffles – I was quite
shocked by those types of findings,” Dunford stated. “I’m pretty sure the
average consumer wouldn’t look at the ingredient list for synthetic dyes on a
pack of hot dog bun.”
The research comes as more U.S.
manufacturers are publicly pledging to remove synthetic dyes from their products
over the next few years, upon mounting pressure
from the Trump administration.
Dunford said it is nearly impossible to tell at first glance
of a product’s main front label if it contains these dyes.
“I went to the snacks aisle to the granola bars and fruit
snacks,” Dunford shared of a recent trip to her local grocery store in Raleigh.
“I saw Welch’s and Mott’s fruit snacks right next to each other. These are two competing
products and consumers likely think they’re exactly the same, just a different
brand.”
Dunford continued, “They both had health claims on the
front. One says, ‘Excellent source of A, C & E,’ the other one says, ‘Made
with real fruit and veggie juice.’ You turn them over, and one has synthetic dyes,
and one doesn’t.”
WRAL also found synthetic dyes on ingredient lists of products
like spinach wraps and zero calorie Jell-o, aimed at making the food appear
greener.
The mother of two said it is not the manufacturer’s goal to
be upfront about if products contain these synthetic dyes, but rather to make
the products as eye-catching as possible to make it from the store shelves to
your pantry.
“It would be nice if consumers had some sort of heads up, a
warning maybe, like some other countries do,” Dunford said. “If you take
Europe, for example, foods that contain some of these synthetic dyes require a
warning label on the package so that parents or the average consumer can stay
away from those products.”
As an Australian-native, Dunford said she has paid close
attention to labels since moving to the U.S.
“I found it very difficult to do one simple thing: find a
bread without sugar. Where I come from, sugar is not an ingredient used in
bread but here in the U.S. sugar is prolific, it’s everywhere,” she said.
When asked what her advice is to other parents Dunford stated,
“Do your best.”
She continued, “The really good thing about synthetic dyes
is there are not many words to remember.”
Dunford said to keep an eye out for these seven main dyes
commonly found in packaged foods and beverages in the United States: Red 40,
Red 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3.
Red 40 was the most detected dye according to the research,
with data revealing it was in 14% of all U.S. products.
“If you see those on the back of packs or if you see ‘artificial
colors’ on the front of the package, that’s probably your indication that the
product contains one of these synthetic dyes,” Dunford said.
The researcher said she would like to see more research
collected regarding long-term impacts of the consumption of synthetic dyes, noting
early studies have indicated a potential link to health risks in children.
“What we do know is a lot of these dyes have been linked to behavioral
problems, especially in children who may have underlying ADHD or other
behavioral issues to start with,” Dunford added.
Dunford said the next step in her research will be to focus
more on specific marketing tactics of products, particularly those aimed at
children.
She also shared synthetic dyes are found in other products
not included in this research, such as medicines.
“During my most recent trip to the grocery store, I did a brief
look through some of those more brightly colored medicines,” Dunford said. “A
lot of the medicines that are brightly colored for children, do indeed contain
one of the synthetic dyes.”
Previous
research by Dunford gained global attention, revealing supermarket baby
foods contained high amounts of non-nutritious food and sugar, and misleading
marketing claims.
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