In the News: Banning food dyes; Autoimmune drug may increase cancer risk

Movement to Ban Controversial Food Dyes Gaining Steam in the US

A U.S consumer advocacy group is calling for the ban of artificial food dyes because of there link to serious behavioural and attention-deficit problems in children. The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal published a study last fall that uncovered a link between additives and hyperactivity in children. The researchers found children with no history of serious behavioural problems showed signs of hyperactivity after drinking fruit juice that contained various levels of additives over a period of several weeks.

The organization singled out eight widely used synthetic dyes for elimination from food:

• Yellow 6 or sunset yellow
• Yellow 5 or tartrazine
• Orange B
• Red 3 or erythrosine
• Red 40, also known as allura red
• Blue 1 or brilliant blue
• Blue 2 or indigotine
• Green 3 or fast green

All of these dyes, with the exception of orange B, are permitted for use in Canada. Many of the dyes are derived from coal tar and have been linked to health problems in past scientific studies. The dyes can be found in a wide range of products including juices, ketchup, chips, chocolate bars, cereals, cheddar cheese, liqueurs, etc...

Unfortunately Canadian labeling standards do not require companies to list which dyes they use in their products - you'll often find products with information stating contains "colours" on the packaging.

In truth, I don't believe that we really need these dyes. They're used for marketing purposes and to make products more appealing to the eyes. Other safe alternatives to these dyes already exist, so why not use them?

Methotrexate (a common drug for Rheumatoid Arthritis) may Increase Cancer Risks

Methotrexate, an immuno-suppressive drug that's often prescribed to suffers of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other autoimmune conditions increases their risk of developing certain types of cancers:

• Five-fold increased risk of developing Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma compared to the general population.
• Three-fold increased risk of melanoma.
• Three-fold increased risk of lung cancer.
• Overall, RA patients taking methotrexate were twice as likely as those without the condition to develop cancer.

These findings, in a way should not be surprising considering that cancer development is often halted by our own body's immune system. Cancer cells are often damaged or mutated cells and a good functioning immune system recognizes these anomalies and destroys them.

Please don't go off your prescription medications without consulting your health care professional. One always has to do a risk reward analysis when considering options, but I can assure you that there are other options out there that may help you to decrease your dosage of drugs.