Off Colour

Clem? Do you think that we should have the right to choose cigarettes as well? What about drugs which are illegal? Those too? Take a look at the little man, Connor, at the end of the video, that's not "depression" affecting his behaviour. There is a huge cost to society of disruptive children and we as a society order it for our benefit. If there is a benefit with making food additives and colurings illegal, we should take it.

The kids in the "healthy" food group are not running around because they are depressed.....I would be too if I was 10 and saw my mates in the other table having fizzy drinks and lollies and I am eating salads!
I am not saying tons of sugars and food colouring are good for kids (or adults for that matter) but consumers should have the right to choose. If you don't want your kids to have fizzy drinks or whatever else then just DON'T buy them. Any parent who stuff their kids full of lollies and then wonder why their kids start to run around like idiots afterwards are just plain ignorant.

Moira, Scientific evidence is plentiful. See www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/information/references.htm for an excellent listing. The shame is that our scientists at FSANZ are not taking notice of these studies.

Leanne, sugar does not cause hyperactivity. See www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/factsheets/Factsugar.htm

Chris, "average" today includes many children who have hyperactivity, or attentional deficits, because of the foods we are eating.

Tanya, you would have to see it to believe it. Parties where foods are free of artificial colours, preservatives etc, are a much calmer and happier affair. Have you ever tried it? It's so much more enjoyable for everyone!

The ADHD Assoc has been aware of the relationship between diet and behaviour for over 30 years. They have provided information and support for parents in order to reduce or avoid the need for the potent medications used to treat ADHD. There is a large(and growing) amount of research published in reputable peer reviewed journals (such as the Lancet)proving the negative effects of artificial colours, flavours and other chemicals on behaviour. I am surprised that people have reacted so strongly to the 60 minutes item. It was discussing a published study and clearly stated that the demonstration was not scientific.It is appalling that the NZ Food Safety Authority are so protective of the food industry and so unwilling to protect our children. Norway has banned these food additives since the 1970's. NZ even allows food dyes that are banned in the USA and other countries. Thank you 60 Minutes for your very important item. The ADHD Association Inc can be contacted at adhd@xtra.co.nz

There is no doubt in my mind that additives such food colourings and msg do affect behaviour. What gets my gall is that the New Zealand food standards won’t regulate against them until it is satisfied with hard evidence that they are “unsafe”. Look what happened with thalidomide.

It should be the other way around. We should regulate against any unnecessary additives until they are proven to be safe for everyone.

We are making a very dangerous experiment here, which I believe could jeopardize the long-term health and survival of the human race.

If you want to see what effects food colour has on children, why not put a few drops on their tongue and see what happens. I dont see how giving them a truck load of sugar is a very logical way to test if they have a reaction to food colour. I noticed you gave the 'good' kids low GI/high fibre foods and water to drink - why not give them fruit juice (like just juice) which has no food colour added? Perhaps the huge amount of sugar in fruit juice would have had the same effect on the 'good' kids as the lollies and fizzy drink had on the 'bad' kids, thus rendering these findings useless. I think the story was more relevant to what effects too much sugar has on children ...

Fantastic to see this on TV.
One doctor we saw with our then 3 year old daughter told us she had ADHD and to get onto the Ritalin to control her behavior issues. My wife just wouldn’t accept this. We persevered until a friend overseas sent us a book that looked into the relationship between behavior and food colouring & preservatives. We changed her diet to reduce and exclude these colours and preservatives. Wow, what a difference. The knowledge that we were essentially poisoning her was dreadful. Some 10 years on our daughter knows the power of food colouring and preservatives and the effects they have on her personality, and she manages. We have seen the cause and effect first hand. These so called experts are laughable.

The paediatrician in the program is Dr Leila Masson. She will be back in NZ in September. To contact her in September phone ASD house in Auckland. She is excellent and looks at the child as a whole when treating them. She is very aware of the gut brain connection and the effect food can have on children. Note to the people that still dont believe the effect of additives, colours etc on children because there isnt enough research..think about this...no one believed Thalidomide was dangerous either, until it was too late and we had a generation of people with missing or malformed limbs. We cant always wait for perfect research to happen before taking action.

One more thing - Preservatives and colours are added to food not to enhance the health of a child but to make the food sell and line the pockets of the company making the food. As consumers we need to ask ourselves if we want to pay companies to feed us full of bright pink food colouring, MSG, nitrates. If we do not then we need to stop buying these foods and demanding companys stop using these additives.

I have two young children...they are very full on, and I find they go nuts because of food. Not any particular type or colour, just food. I don't buy packets, I bake, and cook "from scratch" meals. I think it is just natural energy, although many who see them may disagree! All young animals race around non stop, it is what they do. It is no different for our kids, maybe we should realise that this is just normal and stop trying to place blame, create labels for them and then give them drugs to make adults lives easier. This is essentially what we are doing whether the powers that be admit it or not.
I am not an advocate of feeding these processed foods at all, but obviuosly if you sit kids in front of bright, sweet foods in a party atmosphere, of course they will be excited,...it is because they are kids!

I was very disappointed with this experiment. the opening lines said 10 'average' children were used for this experiment. I know one of these children and he has always behaved like that. Very biased reporting. Do not believe everything you see.