Food additives promote hyperactivity in children

A major study conducted by Professor Jim Stevenson and a team of researchers from The University of Southampton has established a positive correlation between food additives and the incidence of hyperactivity in children. While many parents, at least intuitively, have appreciated for some time the need to minimise the intake of suspect food additives, particularly in children pre-disposed to hyperactivity, the research provides a timely reminder of the need for all of us to be diligent when reading and interpreting food labels.

What are food additives?

Simply put, food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavour or improve its taste and appearance. The most common food additives include antioxidants, preservatives, colours, emulsifiers, stabilisers, gelling agents, thickeners, flavour enhancers, flavourings, and sweeteners. In the EU, each of these additives is assigned an ‘E’ number.

Although European Union (EU) legislation requires that food additives be monitored for safety, safety is something that can only ever be assessed in light of currently available scientific information. As new scientific information comes to light it is not uncommon for additives, which were previously considered acceptable for human consumption, to be deemed unacceptable and removed from the extensive list of approved food additives. For more information on the food additives permitted within your jurisdiction, and some useful links to sites providing further information regarding potentially dangerous additives, please refer to the resources section below.

What is hyperactivity?

Hyperactivity is a general term used to describe a range of behavioural difficulties that have a negative impact on learning, memory, movement, language, emotional responses, and sleep patterns. While there exists no single test for diagnosing hyperactivity, hyperactive children tend to be over-active, unable to concentrate, and prone to making sudden and often inappropriate decisions.

The research

The research involved studying levels of hyperactivity in a randomly selected sample of 297 children. Over a six-week period each child’s food intake was regulated to ensure that, apart from those introduced during the study, all food additives were removed from their diet. Each day, the children were given a drink which either contained one of two mixtures of food colours and benzoate preservative, or just fruit juice – with all the drinks looking and tasting identical. The results of the study clearly demonstrated a positive correlation between food additives and significantly prolonged and elevated levels of hyperactivity.

So what additives should we avoid?

Professor Jim Stevenson states that, “We now have clear evidence that mixtures of certain food colours and benzoate preservative can adversely influence the behaviour of children”. Consequently, The Food Standards Agency, now recommends avoiding:

• Tartrazine (E102)
• Carmoisine (E122)
• Sunset yellow (E110)
• Quinoline yellow (E104)
• Allura red (E129)
• Ponceau 4R (E124)
• Sodium Benzoate (E211)

These additives are commonly found in food items such as soft drinks, sweets, cakes and ice cream.

The organic alternative

Are all food additives bad? No. In fact, some food additives have been used for centuries. Examples of these include salt, sugar and vinegar. In small quantities, no one is suggesting that these are bad. Indeed, under current organic standards there are approximately 30 substances approved as food additives. However, unlike the conventional food industry, which actively promotes the use of the relatively less expensive synthetically derived forms of food additives, organic standards emphasise the use of natural additives (such as salt, and colourings derived from plant sources).

So, by continuing with, or switching to, a lifestyle emphasising fresh, wholesome and nutritionally optimal organic food you will be protecting your family from exposure to a range of unacceptably risky food additives.

Resources

The following sites provide useful information on food additives and safety.

Food Standards Agency (United Kingdom)
Food Standards Australia
United States Food and Drug Administration
Health Canada
New Zealand Food Safety Authority