Yellow Dye #5 / Tartrazine / E102
Yellow Dye #6 / Sunset Yellow / E110
One of the first links between food dye and health problems was the awareness that the additive triggered asthmatic attacks in some people. In the 1980s the Food and Drug Administration required that Yellow 5 be listed on ingredient labels, partly due to the danger this dye poses to asthmatics.
A meal your parents (or grandparents) ate did not consist of a bowl of multicolored cereal for breakfast, chicken nuggets loaded with synthetic chemicals and fillers for lunch, or a dinner of macaroni and cheese so brightly dyed that it almost glows in the dark. What’s more, snacks are often now so full of preservatives that they can be as old as your kids and still look fresh!
Ironically, the role that some preservatives play in triggering asthma was discovered when some asthmatic children experienced an immediate worsening of their symptoms after they inhaled their anti-asthma medications. It was found that the sulfite and sodium benzoate preservatives in these drugs were actually exacerbating the children’s asthma, and when the additives were removed from the medications, the symptoms disappeared.
Children’s Tylenol does not have yellow dye, it has other dyes, including Red 33, Red 40 and Blue 1. Red 33 is one of the dyes that is not allowed to be used in food, but may be added to drugs and cosmetics.
The good news is that Tylenol is also available in a dye-free version, but the bad news is that the drug itself (known as acetaminophen or paracetamol) has been found to trigger asthma!
Studies published in both the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and in Current Allergy and Asthma Reports show that acetaminophen is believed to reduce the body’s supply of glutathione, an antioxidant that helps the body get rid of unwanted chemicals.
If your child needs medicine you might be able to find a dye-free version. An adult drug that is adjusted to the right dose for a child might work; adult drugs are sometimes dye-free. A compounding pharmacist can be very helpful and might be able to prepare the prescription without dyes.