January 22, 2025 by Laurianne Macdonald, B.Sc., MPH, CHt, and Licensed RTT Practitioner
Oliver’s desperate plea as his tiny skeletal hands presented an empty bowl came to mind as I read the headline regarding red dye No. 3 (erythrosine). The bloviators at CNN and other legacy media touted, boasted, and babbled on and on about the pittance of protection the FDA finally tossed the chronically ill U.S. consumer as if it were a gift of frankincense and myrrh.
Perhaps there was hope of masking the stink of being just another flimflam floating in the swamp of alphabet agencies meant to protect us but that does just the opposite. Maybe they think throwing us a bone will keep us believing in their protective prowess. Just in case there’s another pandemic. Might it be the Biden administration being as spiteful and inept as usual: Wanting to claim cleaning up the food supply as a democratic win.
Whatever the reason, I want more.
First, I want to know why it took more than thirty years from the time it was banned in cosmetics to admit it should not be eaten? The dangerous chemical has been banned from food production in Europe and many other countries for at least as long. Seems our supposed consumer protection agency lost the horse, set the cart aflame, and dropped the ball on that account.
Creepy images of feeble crooked men and high browed witches with walkers offering poisoned candies and treats to my grandchildren keep filling my head. The Biden administration’s agreement allows the carcinogenic red dye to continue to be used in edible preparations for two more years, and four more years in pharmaceuticals. That leaves red dye #40, banned in the EU and other countries since 2001, to continue its dirty work in the U.S.. A 2019 review of red dye #40 reported conclusive evidence that consumption of the synthetic causes hyperactivity, irritability, and increases symptoms of ADHD.
Titanium dioxide is a chemical colorant that makes things beautifully white. But it is not as pure as the driven snow. Found in an array of popular yummies including all kinds of candy, chewing gum, pastry creams, cookies, coffee creamers, cheese, as well as soy, oat, and nut milks, makes this poison positively perverse. This class of carcinogen cannot be ruled out as a mutagenic agent able to damage DNA when ingested, and all types of exposure is potentially causing symptoms of chronic inflammation which leads to the leading cause of death; cardiovascular disease.
So, though my main concern, as always, is to help my readers in taking responsibility for their own health, it is difficult not to get into the red, white, and blue of this issue.
That said, in September of 2003 a Public Health Advisory was issued on FD&C Blue No.1 because of clinical reports of injury upon ingestion. Then a 2013 study published by The Journal of General Physiology indicated that Brilliant Blue (FD&C Blue No. 1) could harm the gastrointestinal system and inhibit cell respiration, potentially leading to conditions like ADHD, hyperactivity, allergies, asthma, and acute Crohn’s. Yet the United States still allows Blue No. 1 to be used in many foods, beverages, and pharmaceuticals today.
So, Red #3 is just a drop in a bucket full of stagnant slime. The FDA is still using reports and studies more than thirty years old to base Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) recommendations. The list of toxic and disease causing food additives, preservatives, and flavor enhancers is scary long. Chemical Cuisine FAQ (link below) offers a database that may help you learn what to look for if not avoid the monsters hiding in our food supply. Beware… their recommendations are more like a game of ‘where is the ball’ with the FDA as the carnie. Do your own research to learn more. The EWG and YUCA have apps for your phone that make it easy while you shop.
Someone once told me when something seems suspect, follow the money. Following the money once again leads us to the pharmaceutical and chemical industries that not only control our food, water, and healthcare industries, they clearly have the majority of legislative souls in our federal governance on the take, afraid of blackmail, or dependent upon evil-doer funds to plug into the power source.
I want more. I want better. I want to see all the dangerous toxic chemicals, even if they are just suspected of being harmful, be removed from the food supply TODAY! Why wait? I want my children and grandchildren to be eating safe and nutritious food right now. I want to believe again, that our leaders and lawmakers want to protect everyone, all of us from harm. Because all lives matter.
Why are our leaders allowing the chemical and pharmaceutical companies to continue to use Americans as Guinea pigs: Big-pharma and the chemical corporations are making trillions of dollars of profit every year because of their partnership with the FDA. The FDA is an agency that stopped doing their job back when the AMA, with the help of Good Housekeeping, propagandized and conditioned our parents into believing doctors and scientists were gods, their word gospel, and a pill could cure anything.
Inevitably, and possibly quite blindly, we gave them the power to make us sick and keep us sick. We believed they could heal, not realizing their cures contain the same dangerous chemicals cited above… and more. So much more.
It is time we all made it clear to our senators and congress that we expect more. We expect better from them. Please, share this message with them. At the very least, take the time to do your own research to learn more about how toxic the American food supply actually is. You just might be able to save your children’s and grandchildren’s lives, if not your own.
Resources
https://www.cspinet.org/page/chemical-cuisine-food-additive-safety-ratings
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8634323/
https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/chem_profiles/titanium_dioxide.html
Healthy Living 