"We're now seeing small effects [from dyes] but they haven't been dramatic effects," he says, "and they don't explain most of the problematic behavior."
Meskin also says that the studies so far haven't been precise enough to pinpoint which artificial colors may have problems. It's unlikely, he says, that all of them would have the same effect on the brain since they are chemically different and derived from different ingredients -- some from petrochemicals and others from coal tar.
New York psychiatrist Schab says the study was the most damning yet in linking artificial food colors to hyperactivity. The degree of observed differences in behavior by eliminating the dyes and preservative, he says, could be enough to lead some parents not to seek medication such as Ritalin for their child.
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Going natural
Headlines about these studies prompted Janice Markham, a Los Angeles-based writer and mother of two, to change her shopping habits.
"Anything I can get without dyes I will," she says. "I look at the packaging on everything."
Markham and other parents are willing to pay a premium for products that are natural. But to date, most large food makers have not reformulated their products.
"We have not seen any clear-cut scientific substantiation of these claims [of hyperactivity]," says Kris Charles, a Kellogg Co. spokeswoman. "At this point, we aren't planning any new U.S. product launches with only natural food colorings." But, Charles says, the company will "continue to monitor consumer preferences and comply with regulations."
Some food makers such as Kraft are putting out separate Back to Nature lines with no food dyes or preservatives.
But Jacobson says generally, if anything, U.S. manufacturers are putting more synthetic dyes than ever in their products geared to kids, such as Kraft's Lunchables line and Pepperidge Farm's Goldfish crackers in a rainbow of colors.
He can't say for sure if kids are consuming more, however, because consumption figures are not measured. But, he says, the amount of synthetic dyes certified by the FDA for use in food between 1955 and 2007 climbed fivefold, from 12 milligrams per capita per day in 1955 to 59 milligrams per capita per day last year.
Given those amounts, the Center for Science in the Public Interest claims, the amounts of dye being used in the studies are probably less than what most children are consuming.
