Gluten Free doesn't mean your food has to be a dull and gray! Many brands of food coloring and liquid flavoring are gluten free. McCormick or Wilton, All Tone and Durkee are just a few of these brands that are easily found in your local grocery store.
Our family's absolute favorite food coloring is made by Maggie's Naturals. Their colors are organic, natural and gluten free. Plus, they don't taste like old markers. Their colors are dynamic and come in a variety, ideal for mixing and matching to any occasion. However, if you want to make your own food color than click here - Homemade Food Coloring.
Here's a gluten free rainbow, but is it healthy for you? Sadly, although many food coloring are gluten free, it is not a given that they are healthy for you. I've always preached the benefits of organic dining and food coloring is part of that sermon.
It's always better for your body to digest something simple Mother Nature put together than something tampered with or downright created in a lab for you. It's a question of motivation. Mother Nature is out to get your money.
There are so many articles linking food dye/coloring with preventable diseases that it's proper motivation to take the extra steps to ensure that what you're eating not only tastes great, but is great for you.
Children don't worry about what they're eating. They only care about how it tastes. We want them to eat healthy so their bodies will last them a long happy time. They don't appreciate that sentiment when their little eyes see and want a Flame ball orange ice cream on a collector Popsicle stick.
It's because of this that the parents have to step up and be the sensible, and so uncool, ones in the group because these fantastical commercial food colorings are made from dangerous chemicals and is not doing a single good thing for your kid when they are digested. So the next time your kids give you major "puppy-eyes" in hopes of winning an ice cream or such that is shining like radioactive waste, remember that if some companies could get away with it, that's exactly what they'd serve your precious kids.
Red Flags if found on a food label:
Blue Dye #1, aka Brilliant Blue is commonly found in snacks, sauces, candies and soft drinks. It can cause Cancer, ADHD, Rhinitis and Asthma
Green Dye #3 aka Fast Green is found in sauces, icings, baked goods, gelatins and also in some vegetables. It has been linked to Bladder Cancer and Allergies.
Orange B is found in sausages and hot dogs. Can be the cause of Allergies, ADHD and also Kidney Damage.
Red Dye #3 or Erythrosine is found in popsicles, candies and baked goods. It has been connected with Chromosomal damage and Thyroid Tumors.
Red Dye #40 known as Allura Red AC is used in common snack foods (such as the popular Goldfish!), is found in sauces, candies and soft drinks. This color has been connected with ADHD, Cancer, Asthma, Rhinitis.
Yellow Dye #5 or Tartrazine is found in candies, jams, cake mixes, cereals, snacks, and instant noodles. It has been connected with ADHD, blurred Vision, Anxiety, Migraines and Asthmatic Attacks. (You should think twice, when you buy your kids favorite breakfast cereal which contains this dye!)
Yellow #6 aka Sunset Yellow is found in sausages, gelatins and baked goods. This dye can be the cause of Adrenal Gland and Kidney Tumors.
With increased competition in the food marketplace, companies are forced to consider all areas of advertisement to get their products sold. Let's face it, if it doesn't look good, nobody is going to buy it. It could taste glorious, but if it doesn't make your mouth water, you're not going to try it And if that means sprinkling it with some ground pepper glowing trash particles, they're gonna try it.
The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to protect us by keeping dangerous foodstuffs off the shelves, right? Well, there's a problem here, or rather, there. They need to, literally define "dangerous". As a mom, I consider anything dangerous that can negatively affect the internal workings of my kids simply by eating it, right? Their problem is they have to set the parameters and the definition of "safe" and that gets complicated, for them. Apparently.
Because someone is going to have a problem with some food at sometime, as everybody is slightly chemically different, the FDA has to resort to the dirtiest tricks, aka Statistics. So our health becomes a question of Math. How many people will be negatively affected by eating this? How, percentage wise, negatively will they be affected? It's crazy! I almost pity them. Almost.
In 1950, this slope came avalanching down. This was the year that a certain Halloween candy made many children terribly sick. After figuring out this mystery, the FDA realized that Orange Dye #1 was to blame and they removed it from the market. The same investigation led them to remove Red Dye #2 as well. These were both dyes that had gotten FDA approval, but they had to reconsider when the statistics changed. Scary!
Europe seems to have a better safety agency currently in progress. Their definitions of safe seem more in line with my own as a mom. Shockingly, many food dyes in the United States are forbidden in Europe. What does that say about the FDA? You decide.
Artificial dyes are not healthy for anybody, even if they are gluten free. The easiest way to ensure they don't end up on your pantry shelf is to shop in stores that refuse to even stock products made from them, such as our beloved Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market. If you don't live close to such a store, please take the time to read the labels on any dyes you are interested in buying.
In summary, there are plenty of delicious options for food dyes that are gluten free for you and your family!
Our family's absolute favorite food coloring is made by Maggie's Naturals. Their colors are organic, natural and gluten free. Plus, they don't taste like old markers. Their colors are dynamic and come in a variety, ideal for mixing and matching to any occasion. However, if you want to make your own food color than click here - Homemade Food Coloring.
Here's a gluten free rainbow, but is it healthy for you? Sadly, although many food coloring are gluten free, it is not a given that they are healthy for you. I've always preached the benefits of organic dining and food coloring is part of that sermon.
It's always better for your body to digest something simple Mother Nature put together than something tampered with or downright created in a lab for you. It's a question of motivation. Mother Nature is out to get your money.
There are so many articles linking food dye/coloring with preventable diseases that it's proper motivation to take the extra steps to ensure that what you're eating not only tastes great, but is great for you.
Children don't worry about what they're eating. They only care about how it tastes. We want them to eat healthy so their bodies will last them a long happy time. They don't appreciate that sentiment when their little eyes see and want a Flame ball orange ice cream on a collector Popsicle stick.
It's because of this that the parents have to step up and be the sensible, and so uncool, ones in the group because these fantastical commercial food colorings are made from dangerous chemicals and is not doing a single good thing for your kid when they are digested. So the next time your kids give you major "puppy-eyes" in hopes of winning an ice cream or such that is shining like radioactive waste, remember that if some companies could get away with it, that's exactly what they'd serve your precious kids.
Red Flags if found on a food label:
Blue Dye #1, aka Brilliant Blue is commonly found in snacks, sauces, candies and soft drinks. It can cause Cancer, ADHD, Rhinitis and Asthma
Green Dye #3 aka Fast Green is found in sauces, icings, baked goods, gelatins and also in some vegetables. It has been linked to Bladder Cancer and Allergies.
Orange B is found in sausages and hot dogs. Can be the cause of Allergies, ADHD and also Kidney Damage.
Red Dye #3 or Erythrosine is found in popsicles, candies and baked goods. It has been connected with Chromosomal damage and Thyroid Tumors.
Red Dye #40 known as Allura Red AC is used in common snack foods (such as the popular Goldfish!), is found in sauces, candies and soft drinks. This color has been connected with ADHD, Cancer, Asthma, Rhinitis.
Yellow Dye #5 or Tartrazine is found in candies, jams, cake mixes, cereals, snacks, and instant noodles. It has been connected with ADHD, blurred Vision, Anxiety, Migraines and Asthmatic Attacks. (You should think twice, when you buy your kids favorite breakfast cereal which contains this dye!)
Yellow #6 aka Sunset Yellow is found in sausages, gelatins and baked goods. This dye can be the cause of Adrenal Gland and Kidney Tumors.
With increased competition in the food marketplace, companies are forced to consider all areas of advertisement to get their products sold. Let's face it, if it doesn't look good, nobody is going to buy it. It could taste glorious, but if it doesn't make your mouth water, you're not going to try it And if that means sprinkling it with some ground pepper glowing trash particles, they're gonna try it.
The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to protect us by keeping dangerous foodstuffs off the shelves, right? Well, there's a problem here, or rather, there. They need to, literally define "dangerous". As a mom, I consider anything dangerous that can negatively affect the internal workings of my kids simply by eating it, right? Their problem is they have to set the parameters and the definition of "safe" and that gets complicated, for them. Apparently.
Because someone is going to have a problem with some food at sometime, as everybody is slightly chemically different, the FDA has to resort to the dirtiest tricks, aka Statistics. So our health becomes a question of Math. How many people will be negatively affected by eating this? How, percentage wise, negatively will they be affected? It's crazy! I almost pity them. Almost.
In 1950, this slope came avalanching down. This was the year that a certain Halloween candy made many children terribly sick. After figuring out this mystery, the FDA realized that Orange Dye #1 was to blame and they removed it from the market. The same investigation led them to remove Red Dye #2 as well. These were both dyes that had gotten FDA approval, but they had to reconsider when the statistics changed. Scary!
Europe seems to have a better safety agency currently in progress. Their definitions of safe seem more in line with my own as a mom. Shockingly, many food dyes in the United States are forbidden in Europe. What does that say about the FDA? You decide.
Artificial dyes are not healthy for anybody, even if they are gluten free. The easiest way to ensure they don't end up on your pantry shelf is to shop in stores that refuse to even stock products made from them, such as our beloved Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market. If you don't live close to such a store, please take the time to read the labels on any dyes you are interested in buying.
In summary, there are plenty of delicious options for food dyes that are gluten free for you and your family!
About the Author:
Dr. Berger is a biologist and a specialist in Food AllergiesOnce her son wasdiagnosed with gluten intoleranceshe built a website for parents with kids allergic to food.If you want to read more about Food Allergies and Food Coloring than go to her website - www.gfreeharmony.com
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