The ingredient in foods and personal hygiene products that I dislike the most is artificial dyes and colorings. When you read the ingredient labels for foods and other products, you will generally find them at the end listed as FD&C Blue 1 (or whatever color it is). Most of these colors are made from petroleum based ingredients and some are even used as pesticides. I avoid Red 3 and Red 40 like the plague but today, Blue 1 has been added to my plague list. An article I recently read from the Feingold Organization’s newsletter stated:
“The two colors Brilliant Blue* and Patent Blue** are widely used in many products: food, medicine, toiletries, and cosmetics. Now researchers are asking manufacturers to remove these colorings from hard candies because the long contact with the tongue causes them to be absorbed directly into the bloodstream where they have been shown to prevent respiration of the mitochondria in human cells. Since mitochondria are the tiny energy factories in cells, injuring them is not good.
* Brilliant Blue is called FD&C Blue 1 in the US, and E133 in Europe.
** Patent Blue is not permitted in food here, but is
allowed in Europe where it is called E131.
About ten years ago, Blue 1 was found to be dangerous when used in hospital tube feedings, sometimes causing refractory shock, metabolic acidosis, and death. Although intestines are not supposed to absorb much dye, it was discovered that people who were sick had greater intestinal permeability, allowing the coloring to be absorbed. When the autopsy of these patients were done, their intestines were bright blue.
A new study just published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, shows that blue toiletries such as after-shave lotions and deodorants, which stay on the skin all day, can be absorbed through the skin, especially if it is used right after shaving. Even more is absorbed if the product contains alcohol. Worse, the researchers have shown that it only takes 20 minutes of licking or sucking on a blue candy for a significant amount of the dye to go deeply into the tongue. From there, the many blood vessels in the tongue bring the dye directly into the bloodstream, bypassing both digestion and the liver, which would normally deactivate some of it. The authors conclude that while the use of blue-colored toiletries after shaving the face or underarms is not very dangerous the first time, continuing to use it for years would be “worrisome.” Their second conclusion is that because both dyes pass through the tongue membrane easily, these colors should not be used for candy that will be licked or sucked.”
This is some scary stuff. When checking food ingredients, I always check the bottom of the ingredient list first to check for colors because I know I won’t buy them no matter what else they may contain. However, I have not been as diligent when it comes to cosmetics and personal care items. I noticed just the other day that the clear shampoo I was using actually has Blue 1 in it even though it has no color. So, I will be checking those things more closely. I hope you will as well to give yourself the maximum protection you can to stay healthy. You can read the link below for more information…
Blue Dye Is More Toxic To Our Health Than We Thought
1) is not banned. In fact, it’s commonly used in food and cosmetics. After evaluating the health consequences of using this blue dye, they found that it could be seeping into our bloodstream and destroying our gastrointestinal …