[Alf]

Hi All,

Just wanted to give an update on how Maria is doing. She is home almost 3mos. now. She is the love of my life and is so worth that wait and heartache of the adoption process. She is constantly smiling and laughing and giggling. We are going thru the teething thing. She only has 2 bottom teeth and we are waiting for more. Waiting and waiting and waiting! LOL Anyway, i just wanted to inform you all of something we have been going thru for the last month.

My daughter go a stomach virus about a month ago. Diahreah, bot bad, but bad enuff. So he said to give her pedialyte and any jello but red. So i did that. I found out that she just loves jello. So i continued giving it to her after her dinner ALOT. I noticed that after that she started to become more hyper, crabby and took alot of tantrums (She's 14mos.) She got to the point where at bedtime, she was literally bouncing off the walls. I mentioned this to my sister in law who owns a daycare and she told me that one of the kids there had the same problem and that the mom realized it was the dye in some of the food she was giving her. I researched this and found out that they red dye 40 and yellow 5 has this affect on some kids. I immediately stopped the jello and read the ingredients. In it are Red dye 40 and yellow 5. I checked ALL the boxes of jello and they ALL have it. She has been off of it for a week now. Putting her to sleep was taking me 2hrs to finally get her calm, it now takes 10 mins for her to fall asleep. No more tantrums and her wonderful disposition is back to normal. I now check all foods that i buy and its amazing how many foods this dye is in.

So, i just thought i would let you all know how important it is to read labels. I would have never thought of the dye in jello would have such a dramatic affect.

Good luck to all of you still in process. Your time will come and it is so worth the wait.

Lisa

[soozeek]

My son had the same reaction to the dyes. I found it out because we gave him tylenol and motrin when he had an ear infection, and he would feel better, but get so hyper that he would be unable to sleep. My pediatrician told me to buy the ones without flavoring and dyes, I am having a hard time finding them. He told us that the dyes often make the babies hyper.

[love to be mom]

Hi, My son would get hives and bounce off the walls everytime he had HiC, cherry ice, fruit snacks, Jello and Kool-aid and Imagine not knowing your son was allergic to red dye and giving him benedryl that at the time had red dye in it. He was one big hive. We finally got a preciption for Aterax because it was free of everything and that helped. 15 years later he's still allergic and now he's also allergic to walnuts. Sincerely, Rosa

[KevinK]

YOu all may want to be very careful as these are very common in many food products you would never consider using dyes. I am not an expert on food dyes but there are many different ways they are labeled in products. There are also different types like lake dyes, natural coloring (not really natural), etc.

Somewhere on my computer at work I have a detailed explanation of all the different type of dyes. The amazing thing to me is that I do not believe they are considered allergens (which beginning next year I believe need to be clearly labeled as such). IN any case, if anyone wants some technical info on food dyes, PM me and I can send you something on Monday.

As someone that creates and markets new food products, trust me that there are many games companies can play to keep thier ingredient declaration legally deceptive. I do NOT personally do that, but I am given options on how to label things and it is generally up to the ethics of the marketing person to decide.

Kevin

[csw]

I made homemade baby food for my son,,and he has also been on the Feingold diet since early on..no artificial preservatives, dyes etc...I make one large shopping trip a month to Fresh Fields Whole Foods Market...we do nitrate free bacon and deli meats, and as much organic produce as we can find..my daughter is on a organic toddler formula also...My son, adopted in Peru, has moderately severe ADHD..the Feingold diet helps about 20%..not a cure..but it helps his symptoms..red dye is notorious for causing problems in kids..I would also stay away from any other dyes as much as you can also...take care, Cathy

[mommy2e]

Hello,

Our daughter (also the love of my life) - has had a reaction to the cleaners I was using in the house. She would become irritated, and would almost have an asthma-like effect. I researched, and found out that most of the items we use in our homes, are SCARRY - and shouldn't be used around children at all.

I switched stores, and she is now the same - happy baby - that we brought home from Guatemala!

So glad I found out - before the winter - will all of the windows closed

No problems with dyes though...Wow - there is so much out there!

Mommy to EG
DOB 4/2003
Home 3/2004

[rlf0504]

I get headaches from artificial colorings, so we had eliminated them before our children came home. One thing I hadn't thought about were cosmetics, lipstick is the worst, now I buy tinted things at the health food store.
We color our cake decorations and holiday cookie frosting by alternate methods. A little beet juice works wonders, grape juice, carrot juice, mangos, blueberries, anything you can think of, use your imagination.
Great information to share Lisa. Thank you for the reminder. You'll get so used to reading labels it will become second nature.
Take care,
Rhonda