Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1 and Green 3. Yummm...sounds delicious!

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the use of dyes in our food and cosmetics.  For good reason, I believe.  I'm just going to present some basic information on this in case some of you haven't ever heard about the dangers of these dyes.  Some of you will be very surprised at just how many things you consume that are dyed and the impact they may have on our health.

Citrus Red 2, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3 are some of the most commonly used dyes.  All of these dyes are known to contain cancer-causing chemicals.  Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 are known to trigger reactions in people with allergies.

Now, the FDA claims that they are aware that there could be potential dangers if someone were to ingest too much of one of these dyes, so they have put restrictions on them.  Big deal.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that these dyes are not GOOD for our bodies, no matter what the amount.  I personally think they are unnatural and harmful.  You can look at the research and draw your own conclusion.

A lot of the foods and products containing dye are pretty obvious.  It is mostly junk food, such as candy, gum, processed foods, artificially colored beverages, etc.  However, there are a few things that contain dyes that may surprise some of you.  Here are a few:

• Cereals
• Spaghetti sauce
• Orange peels...yep
• Medications
• Dairy products
• A lot of hygiene products
• Cookies
• Crackers
• Cured meats

There are probably many, many more.  Please share with us if you have more items that we should know about.  If you want to avoid dyes, read the labels or shop somewhere that doesn't sell this junk.  We try to avoid dyes as much as we can, but we are human and give in to our cravings sometimes.  Do your best, it's all you can do.