Red Dye 40

  When Darling Daughter was little, we fed her all sorts of foods.  We indulged in Dunkin Donuts with sprinkles, ice cream with sprinkles, pink pedialyte, you name it.  How about those great little lollipops at the bank?  Sure, Darling Daughter, why not???  Enjoy one!  As long as you're brushing your teeth and eating three square meals a day, what could it hurt as a "sometimes food" right?  What about cotton candy at the circus?  I started noticing one thing about Darling Daughter...  After I gave her anything that had Red Dye 40 in it, she would begin spinning, then she would begin running into things, ramming things, very physical, very aggressive, eyes rolling around in head, licking lips, totally bizarre.  But I knew nothing about Red Dye...

  Then we went to Disney World.  Darling Daughter was probably 4 and a half at the time.  While we were there, the hotel offered a kids club where we could check Darling Daughter in and go out for dinner.  We fed Darling Daughter and hubby had picked up some Red Goofy Gummies, we gave her THREE, dropped her off at the kids club and headed for dinner.  When we returned to the kids club, the child care provider made some comment about Darling Daughter obviously being an only child.  Bizarre.  But whatever...  So, that night I went to bed but in the morning I woke up and asked hubby, "Did we discuss her being allergic to Red Food Dye last night or did I dream that?"  We had not discussed it... 
   Mother's intuition?  Universe talking to me?  Who knows!  But, we returned home and looked up Red Food Dye 40 on youtube.  Guess what???  Look it up!  Scary stuff!  All the little kids did EXACTLY what Darling Daughter did!  Spinning, ramming, eyes rolling, tongues wagging, WHACKO weirdness. That was the first clue!!!  This is NOT JUST my child!!!  This is a neurological reaction!!! 
  But wait..  There's more!!!  Look up how England and most of Europe feel about Red Food Dye40...  Its banned!!!  It is gone and they LOWERED the numbers of children on ADHD/ADD meds.  Look it up!  Amazing!  So, we banned Red Food Dye40 and all his little friends.
 

But BEWARE!!! 

  Red Food Dye 40 is in everything and it is in a bunch of stuff that 1) isn't red and 2) isn't necessarily eaten!  For about a day, hubby argued with me about pink soap.  Bubble bath more specifically.  Ponder this, your skin is your largest organ.  It absorbs..  Don't believe me?  Well, if I pour a cup of cocaine in a hot steamy bath would you feel comfortable soaking in it???  I don't think so!
  Not all people have problems with artificial dyes.  This happened to be another easy and obvious thing that happened to be an environmental trigger for Darling Daughter.
 

Do we cheat?

  

  No.  Red Dye 40 is one thing we can't cheat on.  We allow Darling Daughter to cheat on Dairy and Gluten on holidays, but dyes are a non-negotiable.  My hope is that our government one day adopts the same views as other countries that have banned this chemical in our foods.

 

  Until we meet again, my friends, all the best to you and your wonderful family.  Enjoy all the blessings that today brings you!!!