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Last Updated 04/10/10
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Products change. Products seen in the above videos may no longer be acceptable - only use products listed in a current Feingold Foodlist (see below).

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Feingold Family Favorites Cookbook
The new cookbook is here!
US : Canada : Other

But aren't the FD&C dyes certified to be safe?

No.
They are certified to contain no more than the amount of lead, mercury, arsenic, benzidine, and other contaminants that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) considers acceptable. They are certified to contain a minimum percent of actual color as specified in the Code of Federal Regulations.

The manufacturer must submit a sample of each batch of dye to the FDA for certification. In 2009, almost 20 million pounds of coloring were certified.

Consider benzidine. Yellow #5 & Yellow #6 are each allowed to have 1 ppb (parts per billion) of benzidine. That is a really tiny amount; benzidine is known to cause cancer (see toxicological profile - 242 pages), but it apparently can't be easily removed from the dye, so the FDA decided to allow it at that amount. But how much is really in there?

Drs. Peiperl and Prival wanted to see how much benzidine is actually in the Yellow #5 and #6 you buy in the supermarket, so they bought bottles and tested them. In 1993, they found that half of the 53 Yellow #5 samples they tested contained 7 to 83 ppb of benzidine, and in 1995, they found that half the 67 samples of Yellow #6 contained more than 10 ppb benzidine, with some as high as 104 ppb, and one at 941 ppb. Separately, Dr. Lancaster, in Canada, did a similar study in 1999, reporting that he was finding levels of benzidine ranging from less than 5 to 270 ppb.

Consider lead. That is a big subject, well covered by the Mayo Clinic's website on lead poisoning, and the FDA tells us to avoid it because it damages the brain of both children and adults. Yet it is an interesting bit of trivia that while the synthetic food colorings are allowed to have no more than 10 ppm (parts per million) of lead, many of the "D&C" colors used in medications and given multiple times a day to sick people are allowed to have double that amount.

  1. What problems have been helped
    by the Feingold Program?     (click on each link below to see information, a story, and related science.)

  2. How can a simple diet help so many
    different problems?

    Removing something like food dyes is an easy step to take, but it can have dramatic - and varied - effects. The widely-used dye, tartrazine, also called FD&C Yellow #5, is a good example, but keep in mind we could list similar "side effects" for any of the petroleum-based colorings. Yellow #5 is not particularly worse than Blue #1, Red #40, etc.

    • When you eat things with Yellow 5, you lose zinc through your urine and saliva. If you have ADHD, you lose it even faster than someone without ADHD (Ward 1990, 1997). Zinc, an essential trace mineral, is required by hundreds of your body's enzymes involved with the metabolism of protein, carbohydrate, fat and alcohol. Zinc is also critical for wound healing, sense of taste and smell, immune system function, bone strength, thyroid function, blood clotting, cognitive functions, prenatal development, and sperm production. Even a mild deficiency can produce a wide range of physical and mental problems.

    • All the synthetic dyes are allowed to contain harmful contaminants like lead, mercury, arsenic, and benzidine (a carcinogen). Lead usually targets the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells first, eventually attacking your nervous system. The primary effects of mercury on infants and children is to damage neurological development. Arsenic can cause several kinds of cancer, as well as headaches and confusion. While it is true that colorings don't have large amounts of any of these contaminants, there is no good reason to consume them.

    • As long ago as 1985, Pediatrics - the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics - described the following side effects of Yellow #5: allergies, thyroid tumors, lymphomas (cancer), chromosomal damage, asthma, and urticaria (hives). The connection between this dye and asthma was the reason the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first required it to be listed by name on ingredient labels.

    • Yellow 5 has been shown to damage the ability of nerve cells to send and receive signals. In order for our brains to work properly - to think, remember, reason and learn - the nerve cells must be able to communicate with each other.    More . . .

  3. What is the deal with salicylates?

    Willow bark, which has long been used to ease pain and fever, contains salcylate which is the basis for aspirin. Many plants make salicylates to protect themselves from insects and disease.

    While salicylate-containing medicines such as aspirin can offer many benefits, and plants containing salicylates can be very nourishing, they are not well tolerated by everyone.

    Many people believe that by measuring the salicylate content of various foods, we can assume that those with the highest levels are the ones that will cause problems. Unfortunately, it is just not that simple.   More . . .

  4. How to order the Feingold Program:   Click Here

  5. How to join the Feingold Association: Same as above

    US or Canada:
    Membership is included with the Program materials. To help you succeed on the Program, you are you provided with a Foodlist book for your part of the US or for Canada, and it is updated monthly via our paper newsletter, Pure Facts. Email product alerts are sent out as needed, and you can get member-to-member support at our Members Support Board (the "BB"). The HelpLine is always available by email, and we also supply phone numbers/email addresses of volunteers willing to share their experience and knowledge of local resources in your area.

    Pure Facts is renewable yearly, and members can purchase new Foodlist books and other Program materials as needed.

    Other countries:
    You may join as an international member (free) by clicking on the button that says "Outside US or Canada" in the button bar at top left. There you will be able to purchase any part of the membership materials that you feel may be useful, to subscribe to Pure Facts, and to download helpful information and guidance on using the Program without a Foodlist.