it is interesting to me that the public outcry [in the form of comments] to news articles is "astonished" with reports of "toxic chemical dispersants" that are/were put into the gulf (read about that in this article) when practically every american can find 6-hydroxy-5-[(2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo]-2-naphthalenesulfonic acid, which is a derivative of coal tar (Red #40), in many of their pantry and cold items. i mean, have you checked your orange soda? how about your M&Ms? fruit roll ups? fruit loops? fruity pebbles? even your light'n'fit yogurt? delmonte fruit salad? kraft barbeque sauce? catalina dressing? doritos? twinkies (yea, they aren't even red!)? nutrigrain bars? jello mixes? pretty much any RED medicine you have (nyquil, sudafed, etc.) and some non-red medicine that you'd never even know about (ALL dyed children's medicines - cherry, berry, grape!)? colgate toothpaste? advil? tylenol? even common prescription meds! amoxicillin, wellbutrin, zoloft... and multivitams like centrum and children's flinstone chewables! The list could go on and on...
if you go to europe, NOTHING has red 40 in it because it is illegal to use as a food additive there.
i think americans need to keep in perspective what "toxic" is!!! the government seems to be pretty consistent with their definition of "toxic" since the dispersants were allowed to be used in the gulf AND artificial food dyes are allowed to be put into our foods!
i'm happy to say that we're 99% dye free in our house. (i have to put that 1% in there for incidental medicines like tylenol and advil and the occasional antibiotic for the kids - they always seem to get the pink stuff which i hate giving them!)
want to read more about food additives? this is a neat link. i have it bookmarked and refer to it anytime i find something out of the ordinary. we generally cook everything "fresh and clean" so additives are very low on my worry list!
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