Episode 116: The Problem with Food Dyes (& Why You Shouldn't Buy Kellogg's New Waffles)
Why my feathers are all sorts of ruffled over Kellogg’s new unicorn & mermaid frozen waffles...and the BIG problem with food dyes.
This episode is for the busy parent who is looking to glean some information to make more informed decisions about their food purchases. It’s also a short episode that you can share with people that you care about.
Learn More About Functional Nutrition
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Erin Holt [00:00:05]:
Welcome to the Funk'tional Nutrition podcast. I'm your host, Erin Holt, and I'm a board certified integrative and functional nutritionist. I live on the sea coast of New Hampshire and work with clients in my virtual practice all over the world through private consultations and online nutrition and functional medicine programs.
Erin Holt [00:00:25]:
Functional medicine nutrition is all about diving deep with people to get to the root cause of their health issues. And that's exactly what I tackle in this podcast. All things health, food and nutrition, unpacking current research, and almost a decade of clinical experience. I love to bring experts and thought leaders to the table so we can all learn together. Please keep in mind this podcast is created for educational purposes only and should never be used as a replacement for medical diagnosis or treatment. Thanks for joining me. Now let's dive in.
Erin Holt [00:01:01]:
Hey, buds, I'm back. It's going to be a short and sweet episode today. I'm heading out on a little mini Labor Day vacation with the fam. We're heading up Maine. We're going to be a little bit off the grid, I suspect. This is a trip that we've done annually for the past few years and it's pretty epic. We are hardcore in the wilderness and it's awesome. So I'm not going to release a podcast next week, but we're going to do a mini one this week.
Erin Holt [00:01:32]:
I got something nice and easy for you. I've been posting a lot about this over on Instagram lately. If you are new to the podcast, I am @thefunktionalnutritionist over on Instagram and it's spelled the same way that this podcast is spelled functional with a K. So if you do follow me on Instagram, you might have heard some of this over there. But I know not everyone sees everything on that app. My feathers are all sorts of ruffled over Kellogg's new frozen waffles, the unicorn and mermaid, and I think they did like a cupcake or something like that as well. So in today's episode, I'm going to talk about why I have a problem with this particular product. And I'm also going to talk about why food dyes are extraordinarily problematic.
Erin Holt [00:02:21]:
Now, I know a lot of my listenership doesn't necessarily consume this type of food on a regular basis, things with food dyes or overly processed foods. But I also know that a lot of you out there are just looking for ways to clean up your diet or your family's diet. And you certainly buy processed food from time to time. So this episode is really catered to the busy parent who is looking to glean some info so they can make more informed decision about their food purchases. It's going to be a short episode so you can share it with the people that you care about. We're going to pack a lot into this, into a few minutes of this show. Totally not a marketing ploy. I really just want this information in the hands of as many parents and caretakers and grandparents as possible.
Erin Holt [00:03:14]:
I was surprised by some of the feedback that I got on social media. A lot of folks were saying, oh, my gosh, thank you so much for bringing this to my attention, because I would have bought this product had I not known. So definitely think there's some room for all of us to learn. And I think a lot of it has to do with this blind trust that we have, this belief that if a product is on a shelf, then it's going to be safe for us. And this is no different than the personal care industry. It's like, if CVS or Walgreens or Rite Aid is selling this lotion, it's got to be safe. But what we don't realize is that the chemicals used in a lot of personal care products are endocrine disrupting chemicals. They scramble up our hormones, they harm our babies, they harm our children, they harm ourselves.
Erin Holt [00:03:59]:
They can contribute to fertility issues. The list goes on and on. That's the reason that I partnered with a company like Beautycounter, because they're pushing for legislative change. They're saying, this is not okay. This is not safe. This needs to be changed. The same deal is in our food system. And I see that consumers put so much trust into the FDA and into food manufacturers to do right by us, and it's simply not what's happening.
Erin Holt [00:04:29]:
The fact that our country allows certain chemicals in our food system is maddening. A lot of chemicals that are legal here in the US are actually illegal in other countries because of their safety issues. And I think it's complete BS, because parents, now more than ever, we're burnt out, we're strung out. And the last thing we have time for is to be the watchdog for every ingredient in every single food we eat. And I know that it's not for lack of concern. It's not because you don't give a shit. It's because you genuinely believe, how bad could it be, right? If it's on the shelf, how bad could it be? Unfortunately, it's pretty bad. That's the truth.
Erin Holt [00:05:13]:
It's pretty bad. And the real reason that I'm especially pissed off is that these products are directed at children. The Kellogg's new frozen waffles are targeted directly at children. If you go ahead and Google an image of them, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. I'm a mom to a six year old girl, and so I know firsthand just how hip unicorns and mermaids are with kiddos right now. This was a strategic play. This was a strategic move. And it really bums me out because of the particular ingredients in this product.
Erin Holt [00:05:49]:
The unicorn variety, for example, has three different types of food dyes. Food dyes make proteins harder to break down. They muck up our guts. They cause inflammation. They cause immune dysregulation. This is not what we're looking for right now, especially right now heading back to school. We want to shore up the immune system.
Erin Holt [00:06:10]:
Stay tuned because I'm going to have some episodes on that coming up. But the last thing we want to do is muck that system up. And as a parent, I know that mornings can be super hectic. I know that parents are looking for quick and easy breakfast ideas, especially as we do that transition back to school, whatever that looks like for you. So stay tuned to the end of this episode because I'm going to give some of my favorite easy breakfast ideas. All dye free. All quick and easy. We have a never rule for food dyes in my house.
Erin Holt [00:06:46]:
Food dyes are a never, meaning that we never buy them, we never allow them in the house. So even if a well meaning grandparent wants to purchase something for the kiddo, if it has food dye, it's a no. It doesn't come into the house and we never consume them. Not even once in a while, not even as a special treat. It's a hard no. There is no reason to consume these chemicals. Let's talk for a minute about safety. So the FDA swears up and down that these chemicals are safe.
Erin Holt [00:06:45]:
We have to look at how they're actually studied, though, because when we look at these chemicals, we're studying individual dyes. But products often contain mixtures of dyes. Like I was saying about those unicorn waffles, they contain three dyes. They contain blue 2, red 40 and red 3 mixed up with other ingredients. So dyes can have additive and synergistic effects when they're mixed with each other and when they're mixed with other food additives. We simply don't know the ramifications of doubling down or tripling down on the food dyes, especially when we're mixing them up with other food additives like artificial flavorings, which, by the way, these waffles also have the FDA data for tolerance to dyes. So, like, how much can the average person tolerate before we experience ill effects? It's based on the usage of dye in the 1990s or in 1990, but since then, we're now in 2020, 30 years later. Since then, our usage has actually doubled.
Erin Holt [00:08:29]:
And believe it or not, there's been a fivefold increase in our consumption of food dye since 1955. So we can't kid ourselves to be like, oh, we've always consumed these things. It's totally fine. I mean, if you're like me and you're a kid of the 80s and 90s, then you no doubt consumed your fair share of food dyes. And everybody loves to be like, well, I ate that and I'm fine. But most of us are kind of falling apart at the seams. My entire business is based on people who have ongoing gut issues, ongoing immune issues, mystery illness, fatigue, brain fog, bloating, all that kind of stuff. So for the most part, people aren't super healthy in the US.
Erin Holt [00:09:13]:
We, of course, have to look to our food system and what the heck's going on there. On top of that, really targeting the kiddos right now. Food dye safety is most likely different for children because their developing bodies are more sensitive to chemicals, and they consume more dyes per unit of body weight than adults because they're smaller, right? In a 2014 study, the Center for Science in the Public Interest study found that 350 products marketed to children contained artificial dye. I mean, come on. What the heck? This is the part that frustrates me the most is that food dyes have no purpose other than cosmetic effects. Literally, the only thing they do is make food products seem more appealing to children. That's it. There are other junkie ingredients that I don't like, like artificial flavors, for example, that actually have a purpose.
Erin Holt [00:10:15]:
So artificial flavors make foods taste a certain way, a very non natural way, but they give them extra, extra flavor. I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of what those artificial flavors do, but they mess up the neuroregulation of appetite. They make you crave more foods. So if you have an issue with your appetite, you got to get those artificial flavors out of your diet. Junkie oils like cotton seed oil, that's also a never ingredient in my house. They're super cheap. Those man made oils are very cheap. So its purpose is to make cheaper food, right? There's an actual purpose.
Erin Holt [00:10:57]:
We add junkie ingredients for other purposes, but food dyes serves no other purpose other than to make food colorful. It's literally cosmetic. But here's the thing. When you start to hear this, you're like, what the heck? You get a little bit outraged. This is ridiculous. Why would food manufacturers do this? Well, one of the reasons that food companies don't remove dyes from their products is because consumers are so accustomed to food looking a certain way that when the food manufacturers try to alter the product to take the dyes out, consumers don't purchase it because it doesn't look good. So we actually have to change our expectations of what food should look like, and we have to be okay with our food not looking like a science project. As Marion Nestle said, real foods don't need cosmetics, right? If your food is wearing makeup, there's a problem.
Erin Holt [00:10:55]:
So what I'm going to do is hit play on a very short video. It's about four minutes video that I recorded for Instagram, where I explained why these waffles are bunk city don't eat them. But I also explain why food sensitivities are so much more common now. And I get that question a lot. Like, when we were growing up, food sensitivities with kiddos wasn't such a big deal. What the heck is going on? And part of it actually has to do with food dyes. So I'm going to explain the connection there. And just as a reminder, if you're looking for more information like this, definitely give me a follow over on Instagram at @thefunktionalnutritionist.
Erin Holt [00:12:38]:
I'll link to that in the show notes.
Erin Holt [00:12:46]:
Let's talk about those Kellogg's waffles and why they're so problematic. Now, even though I'm a nutritionist, I rarely comment on kid feeding, aside from showing you what my own kid is eating, because I'm hyper aware of it coming across as food shaming or parent shaming. And that's never the name of my game. That's not the intention of this video. The intention of this video is to bring attention and call out the food industry, who lets shenanigans like this go on, and Kellogg's, who greenlighted this terrible product. Here's how this is going to go down. You're going to go to the grocery store, and chances are you're going to bring your kid. Because in the age of COVID nobody has childcare.
Erin Holt [00:13:22]:
Now. You're burnt out, strung out, and stressed out from living through a pandemic, having no childcare, working from home and homeschooling. So your resolve is low. Your resources are all used up. So when your kid sees this brand new razzamatazzi product that's marketed directly to them, it's going to end up in the cart because your result is low. You're not going to say no. You're like, whatever. If it's on the grocery store shelf, it's got to be safe.
Erin Holt [00:13:51]:
It's probably safe for my kid, right? Wrong. Because there's very little regulation when it comes to the chemicals that are put in food in our country. So some of these chemicals, some of these food dyes are actually banned in other countries, not here. Why this is a problem. And this is the answer to the question of, like, why are food sensitivities such a thing? Why are kids hyperallergic all of a sudden? Why do kids get eczema and asthma all the time? Why are kids struggling with behavioral issues like never before? It has a lot to do with our food system and the shit we're putting into our food. So let's take a little bit of a lesson in how we break down proteins. Now, if you remember back to high school, middle school science, amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. So when we eat protein in food, whether it's from fish or potatoes, we take those protein branches and we have to break them down into individual amino acids. When we do that, our immune system recognizes those amino acids, and they're like, great, welcome to the party.
Erin Holt [00:14:54]:
Let's scoot around in the bloodstream and do our jobs. If we don't break them down into individual amino acids, that's where problems arise, because our immune system doesn't really recognize them. And it has to determine, is this a friend or is this a foe? Should we launch an attack or should we just let it cruise on by? Do we ring the alarm bells and start an inflammatory production or not? When a protein is bound up with another chemical or compound, like food dye, for example, we have much less ability to break it down into amino acids. So those proteins become antigenic. An antigen is something that your body doesn't readily ID. It comes from outside the body, and it's often treated as a foreign invader. So when we eat food dyes in our food, the food becomes more antigenic, more likely to cause problems, more likely for your immune system to go on defense. And when this happens, this creates inflammation in the body.
Erin Holt [00:16:07]:
This can create more food sensitivities. This can contribute to intestinal hyperpermeability or leaky gut. When we have that leaky gut process going on, it can open up the doorway to autoimmunity and more immune dysregulation. So it just kind of keeps this process going on. And the more that we consume these foods, the more likely it is that we will have these processes, these inflammatory processes. Now, I think sometimes as parents, we look to the belly, right? If our kiddos are saying, I have a belly ache, we're like, ooh, that's probably a food sensitivity or a food reaction. But it doesn't always manifest as belly stuff. It can be behavioral stuff.
Erin Holt [00:16:45]:
It can be brain fog, it can be skin manifestations. It can be inflammation anywhere in the body. If there's inflammation in the gut and that inflammation has gotten into the bloodstream, it can travel anywhere in the body. And so many of the chronic modern ailments with ourselves and our kiddos really come back to the food that we're eating. And by food, I mean like chemical food stuff that really don't belong in our kiddos bodies. So with that said, just be mindful of the food dyes that are coming in. And if a product looks more like a toy than food, it really should be a hard no for our kids.
Erin Holt [00:17:27]:
Okay? So don't consume foods. Takeaway message there. Don't consume foods that look like toys. Don't buy them for your kids. But what else can we do? What else can we do? Number one is always, always read the ingredient label before purchasing any item. Food dyes will always be listed, so you'll see them as red 40, red 3, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1, blue 2. Don't purchase items that contain any food dyes. Not for you, not for your kiddos, not for your grandkids, nobody.
Erin Holt [00:18:06]:
The other thing we want to do is contact the companies, put the pressure on them, contact Kellogg's, be like, yo, what's the deal? Why are you releasing these bunk products? Nobody wants to consume food dyes, and they're not safe for our children. Consumer demand drives change. We have more power than we give ourselves credit for. If you stop buying these products, then the companies lose profits. They pay attention when they start losing profit, so stop buying them. And then if you want more robust information on all of this, I'm going to cut this episode short so it's easier for people to pay attention to. But you can check out Center for Science in the Public Interest. They have a lot of really great resources on all of this.
Erin Holt [00:18:53]:
So here's one breakfast that I've been making a lot for my kiddo. It's super easy. I buy instant gluten free oats, and I make this just about every morning while we're getting ready for the day. So I buy gluten free instant oats and then cook them in water how you normally would after about, I don't know. You don't have to buy the instant oats either. I don't usually buy those. I don't know why I just said that. I just buy the regular oats, but they cook up pretty quickly.
Erin Holt [00:19:23]:
But it also works if you want to buy the instant oats. Anyway, after a couple of minutes of cooking them in the water, you crack a couple eggs into it. I know it sounds wacky. Somebody on Instagram gave me this idea. I can't give her credit for it because I completely forget who told me this in my DMs, but thank you. Thank you, thank you. I've been doing it ever since. It's amazing.
Erin Holt [00:19:46]:
So you're adding some extra protein into the mix because what was I going to say? Oatmeal. It's a pretty high carbohydrate food without fat, without fiber, without protein. So we have to add those things to regulate blood sugar to make sure we're preventing that blood sugar drop. And I've talked about that in so many episodes of the show, so you can check out more information there. But you whisk the eggs in with a metal whisk and then add your toppings. I usually put in coconut, dried coconut. I'll put in frozen blueberries. I'll put in a ton of cinnamon.
Erin Holt [00:20:27]:
Sometimes I'll throw in some extra collagen powder for more protein, and I rarely add a sweetener. Once in a while I'll do like a little bit of honey or real maple syrup on top, but my kiddo eats it without the sweetener, so I've been making that a ton. And my husband and daughter didn't have any idea that there was eggs in it. You really can't taste it. For more easy and healthy breakfast options for the family, you can head over to my website, erinholthealth.com. I have some easy recipes like grain free baked oatmeal, grain free chocolate chunk blondie bread. I have a PB and J smoothie bowl that's a big hit. Breakfast cookies are on there, homemade sausage patties, lots of good things to start the day with.
Erin Holt [00:21:18]:
And then for just basic throw together options, hard boiled eggs are where it's at. Hard boiled eggs with a little bit of sea salt. I'll throw some almonds on a plate, maybe some sliced tomatoes with some olive oil and sea salt. That's a great option for breakfast, especially right now if you can get your hands on some good tomatoes. My daughter also really loves smoked salmon, so we'll do maybe some avocado toast with some smoked salmon and some blueberries on the side. If you follow the hashtag #ehhnoncerealbreakfast. I have tons more ideas, so I'll throw all that down into the show notes. You can check it out, and hopefully that is some good information to get you started this school year.
Erin Holt [00:22:06]:
Good luck out there, everybody. Stay safe. Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Funk'tional Nutrition podcast. If you'd like to submit a question to the show, fill out the contact form@erinnholthealth.com. If you like what you hear, don't.
Erin Holt [00:22:23]:
Forget to subscribe and leave a review in iTunes.
Erin Holt [00:22:26]:
Take care of you.
