Moms Everywhere

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We worry about the sugar in the candy and maybe even the fat content. But, did you know that there is something else IN candy that we need to be aware of? Jane Hersey, author of Why Can’t My Child Behave? and also the director of the nonprofit Feingold Association discusses with us that we have to be aware of the food dyes in our children’s candy. Since 1955, the amount of good dyes has increased by 500%!

Jane shares with us that food dyes that are often in many of our foods such as RED 40 or YELLOW 5 are synthetic dyes (not natural ingredients, at all!!! )and are made from petroleum!?! ( Yes, I was rather shocked when I heard this!) Jane has had over 25 years of experience researching, writing, and educating families about this in her work. She says that all you have to do is turn the box over to read the ingredients and you will see the color and a number attached to it.

Why should we be concerned about food dyes? Many studies have shown a link to behavior issues such as ADHD or ADD with food dyes in the food we eat. Also, in animals, many of these dyes cause tumors. Making simple changes such as the type of chocolate can make a big difference. Other things we need to look for in our food is Aspertame and also VANILLIN. For more information, please log onto www.ADHDdiet.org where you will find comprehensive studies as well as lists of foods that are natural vs. not natural.

When I asked her what we can do for our families during Halloween to be able to make healthier choices, she stated that we can go to many of our local grocery stores or stores such as Whole Foods or Trader Joes and go to their natural candy section. We can have candies from Art and Palmer, Giradelli chocolate, Cloud Nine is another brand. Look at the ingredients and if they say natural flavorings, natural colorings, you are good to go! Buy away! Eat and not worry!!!

To avoid the Halloween Hangover, Jane recommends the following:

• Stock up on natural treats
• Swap the candy you collect with good treats (that you have bought that has natural ingredients)
• Collect candy and leave it outside for the Halloween Witch to switch it out with a favorite toy (works well with younger aged children)
• Pull out the candy that is “good candy” and with the remaining, you may want to have a craft with it such as one mom who made a candy castle out of all the inedible candy.

Moms, this is not meant to cause havoc or chaos during this Halloween . We just wanted to share with you what “else” is in candy besides sugar. We owe it to our children to give them the safest and best Halloween and why not start with the candy. M & M ’s with all it bright colors in the UK is colored with only natural colorings. They have banned the synthetic dyes from their M&M’s. But, not here in the US.

For more information, log onto www.ADHDdiet.org and also www.cspinet.org . When I did my bit of research on this topic, I was rather amazed at the amount of information that is available for us regarding this topic and how little we really know about it! There are many organizations and people trying to ban food dyes from our diets, which of course will take time as well as millions of dollars! What’s taking the FDA so long?! Please, check out both these sites and you will view food in an entirely different light!

After I talked to Jane, I immediately went into my candy stash that I bought specifically for Halloween to pass out. I was sadly disappointed that many of my favorites are not the wisest choices for my family. So, now I have to go back and choose differently… more wisely… for my family’s health. What about you?

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