EFSA publishes view on colours research
Friday 14 March 2008
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has today issued its opinion of Agency-funded research on certain artificial food colours and children's behaviour.
In September 2007, the medical journal, The Lancet, published the research that looked at the effect of certain artificial food colours and the preservative sodium benzoate on children's behaviour.
EFSA's opinion is available at the link below.
The FSA will review EFSA's opinion in detail and discuss this and any further action at the FSA open Board meeting in April.
Agency advice
The Agency advises parents of children showing signs of hyperactivity or ADHD that cutting certain artificial colours used in the study from their diets might have beneficial effects.
The colours that featured in the study are:
- sunset yellow (E110)
- quinoline yellow (E104)
- carmoisine (E122)
- allura red (E129)
- tartrazine (E102)
- ponceau 4R (E124)