It Eats You Up As You Eat

Authored by: Nicole Kim

Art by: Julia Chen

“Face the intensity” (Takis).

“Dangerously cheesy” (Cheetos, 1997).

If these slogans are not warning labels, what else are they?

Bright red, fiery-looking chips are like poisonous frogs: visibly menacing but very, very tempting. The market strategically targets urban youth in the middle and upper-middle class because they are clearly susceptible to making mindless purchases, like Takis dusted in what turns out to be artificial food coloring derived from petroleum [1].

FD&C Yellow 6 Lake, FD&C Red 40 Lake, and many other artificial colors are used in Takis, as well as in similar products like Hot Cheetos. These chips objectively look unhealthy at first glance and are in fact unhealthy when observed on a microscopic level. Zooming in on the bright crimson dusting that perfectly coats mouthwatering chips, we see that artificial food coloring (AFC) alters dopamine transporter function and regular dopamine signaling [2]. If this signaling is disrupted, impulse control and attention are often inhibited noticeably. This occurs most commonly in children because of their brains’ high neuroplasticity and capacity to develop.

It is important to understand that AFC itself does not directly cause behavioral disorders, but rather drives hormonal imbalance that may give rise to major symptoms of severe behavioral issues. Abnormal suppressions or spikes in hormones such as dopamine and serotonin may cause increased impulsivity and hyperactivity, depending on one’s genetic predispositions or individual receptor sensitivities [3]. Unfortunately, sensitivity to food dye is quite difficult to detect in children due to the symptoms being similar to many other behaviors commonly displayed at a young age. Due to this, many parents are unconcerned about the effects of AFC on their children. Not surprisingly, children with pre-existing sensitivity to food dyes are the most vulnerable to increased hyperactivity after consuming Red Dye No.40 [4]. Regardless of a child’s sensitivity to food dyes, it is crucial for parents and caregivers to minimize the amount of food dye in children’s diets because there has been increasing evidence of a strong correlation between consuming food dyes like Red Dye No.40 and developing aberrant behavior [5].

The detrimental effects of artificial food coloring extend beyond causing changes in behaviors since AFC directly impacts physical health as well. A recent toxicology study reveals a connection between the consumption of Red Dye No.40 and the rise of early-onset colorectal cancer [6]. This commonly used food dye causes inflammation in the distal colon and rectum of mice used in the study, so we can cautiously infer that similar problems arise in human organs. Additionally, researchers have examined pro-inflammatory foods containing Red Dye No.40 damaging DNA and causing dysbiosis – a change in the composition of the microbiome – in mice when Red Dye No.40 is combined with a high-fat diet for a prolonged period of time [6]. (Excerpt Option 1) The human gut microbiome is a complex system that is highly dependent on what is consumed and digested in the body, so when we are eating food with a non-negligible amount of artificial food coloring, we are simultaneously getting eaten up by toxic compounds that are ironically approved by the Food and Drug Administration [7].

(Excerpt Option 2) Next time you are at the grocery store, the intense purple and red colors on the Takis packaging will most likely grab your attention, but before you throw a bag of them in your cart, think twice and do your future self a favor. Remember that you are what you eat – quite literally. As tempting as it may be to get a salivating snack with a good crunch, you are doing what is better for your well-being if you mitigate your consumption of Red Dye No.40 and other artificial food coloring from your diet entirely.

References:

1. Kobylewski, S., & Jacobson, M. F. (2012). Toxicology of food dyes. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 18(3), 220–246. PubMed. https://doi.org/10.1179/1077352512Z.00000000034

2. Biswas, P., Jain, J., Hasan, W., Bose, D., & Yadav, R. S. (2023). Azo food dye neurotoxicity in rats: A neurobehavioral, biochemical, and histopathological study. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 181, 114067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2023.114067

3. Arnold, L. E., Lofthouse, N., & Hurt, E. (2012). Artificial Food Colors and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Symptoms: Conclusions to Dye for. Neurotherapeutics, 9(3), 599–609. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13311-012-0133-x

4. Miller, D. (2024, April 26). Food Dye Sensitivity. Center for Science in the Public Interest. https://www.cspinet.org/eating-healthy/ingredients-concern/food-dyes/testimonies#

5. Rowe, K. S., & Rowe, K. J. (1994). Synthetic food coloring and behavior: A dose response effect in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, repeated-measures study. The Journal of Pediatrics, 125(5), 691–698. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3476(06)80164-2

6. Zhang, Q., Chumanevich, A. A., Nguyen, I., Chumanevich, A. A., Sartawi, N., Hogan, J., Khazan, M., Harris, Q., Massey, B., Chatzistamou, I., Buckhaults, P. J., Banister, C. E., Wirth, M., Hebert, J. R., Murphy, E. A., & Hofseth, L. J. (2023). The synthetic food dye, Red 40, causes DNA damage, causes colonic inflammation, and impacts the microbiome in mice. Toxicology Reports, 11(11), 221–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxrep.2023.08.006

7. Tin, A. (2024, December 13). What is Red 40 and why hasn’t the FDA banned the dye? Cbsnews.com; CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-red-dye-40-effects/