Reproduced from 'Essence' magazine
Volume 44, Number 1
Exclusively for ABA subscribers
By Sue Dengate
Five years ago, when my article Restless Babies was published in this magazine, I was surprised by the feedback. Many mothers had been unaware that food additives can pass through breastmilk to affect babies and that food additives have been associated with irritability, restlessness and sleep disturbance.
'I recommended your article to a distraught mum via a breastfeeding support bulletin board,' wrote one breastfeeding counsellor. 'She was shocked to discover that tartrazine [artificial colour 102] was hiding in many 'healthy' foods. Within just 2 days of changing her diet, her baby had a normal sleeping pattern. Not only that, but her 2-year old 'spirited kid' is much calmer, and has stopped throwing incessant tantrums.'
The consumption of food additives in processed foods became widespread in the 1960s and has increased every year since then. The more additives you eat, the more likely you are to be affected and the effects may be worse when additives are consumed in combinations.
New mothers are particularly at risk. Cindy from Restless Babies knew she had to keep up her fluids while breastfeeding so she drank up to five cans of carbonated lemon flavoured drinks a day, each containing two additives associated with behavioural problems. Another mother wrote, 'my husband thought he was helping by bringing home takeaways every night'.
The 30 minute rule
How will you know if your baby or child is affected by additives? Research shows that if reactions don't occur within 30 minutes, consumers don't make the connection. Yet reactions to additives generally occur hours or even days later. With breastfeeding, the delay is much longer. It's usually only by avoiding these additives that you can see a difference.
When baby Chris Hewton from Western Australia was born he screamed for about 18 hours a day every day for 3 months, until he and his mother Dani were hospitalised.
'I am afraid I might hurt Chris if I don't get some sleep,' Dani wrote in her diary. 'The staff take over Chris and I get to sleep. Staff are amazed at the amount Chris screams.' Referred by the hospital doctor to a dietitian, Dani began an elimination diet, and Chris' reflux and diarrhoea started to improve. Due to mistakes, it took nearly 12 months to work out exactly which food chemicals affected him. 'Preservative 282 in bread is by far the worst,' she wrote later. 'Within 3 hours, Chris is screaming in agony and has chronic diarrhoea. When I was breastfeeding and ate 282 he would react within 12 hours. Colours make him really hyperactive'. As well, Chris was affected by some natural chemicals called salicylates.
Like Dani, most mothers have never heard of salicylates, yet doctors have reported since the 1960s and1970s that some children's behaviour can be affected while 'under the influence' of these natural pesticides in some medications, most fruit and some vegetables. Food processing has led to an increase not only in additives but also in our daily intake of salicylates because, for example, there are many more salicylates in a serve of juice that contains the equivalent of ten oranges plus peel than in one orange.
Allergy or intolerance?
Food sensitivity may run in families. Babies can be born with a susceptibility to food allergy, reacting to proteins in foods such as peanuts, milk or eggs, or with an intolerance to food chemicals such as additives and salicylates. A family history of hayfever, eczema and asthma suggests an allergic family. Although rare, food allergy is increasing. Mothers in allergic families are urged to delay introduction of peanuts and other known allergens and to avoid them during late pregnancy and breastfeeding.
'My husband has eczema, but I had no idea this meant we were an allergic family', commented a mother from Coffs Harbour. Alerted to the possibilities of food sensitivity by Restless Babies, Ruth discovered through tests at a hospital allergy clinic that her baby's rashes were related to a severe peanut allergy.
Ruth's baby also had sleeping problems. 'We could never get her to sleep', Ruth said. A family history of sleeping difficulties, migraines, irritable bowel symptoms or ADHD suggests food intolerance. As it turned out, Ruth's daughter had both food allergy and food intolerance. Although laboratory tests can confirm allergy, there are no scientifically proven tests for food intolerance, so like Dani, Ruth was put on an elimination diet to find out what was affecting her daughter.
How many children are affected?
When food additives first became common, studies suggested that only a few children were affected. However, as reactions are related to dose and doses are increasing every year, you would expect more children to be affected and that appears to be happening.
Last year I was invited to take part in an additive-free trial at Palmers Island Primary School in Northern NSW. For 2 weeks, children were offered additive-free breakfasts and asked to avoid nasty additives. Accompanied by a film crew, I visited the school to teach children, staff and parents to read labels. At that stage I doubted whether asking children to avoid additives would make any difference but within a week everyone saw an improvement. After the trial the students were permitted to eat additive-laden treats and everyone could see for themselves the changes in behaviour. Students who had previously been calm and cooperative became loud, cheeky and argumentative.
'I didn't think I'd see a lot of changes because they eat pretty well anyway', said one mother who was surprised to find her boys played much more cooperatively when she switched from artificially-coloured lollies to toffees without artificial colours and from barbecue-flavoured biscuits to plain crackers.
Altogether, out of the hundreds of additives permitted in our foods, more than 50 (see box) have been linked to a range of problems with sleeping, toilet training, bedwetting, fussy eating, speech delay, behaviour and many other seemingly trivial childrearing issues that can erode a family's quality of life. As well, there can be reflux, colic, nappy rash and other itchy skin rashes, asthma and headaches.
All children are affected differently and any food additive can be related to any symptom. Adults can be affected as well, so mothers often discover a food sensitivity themselves.
A 1950s diet
What children ate in the 1950s was low in additives - porridge, preservative-free bread, pure butter, fresh fruit and vegetables, home cooked 'meat and three veg', plain biscuits such as butter shortbread, water or milk to drink. There's an additive free recipe booklet on our website with this kind of food and many families can see an improvement by cutting down on additives.
'Since getting your DVD and booklet, we have been amazed at the level of additives and preservatives in nearly everything we fed to the kids', wrote one father. 'After we started to remove the nasties from our 4-year-old son's diet, we saw an immediate difference in his behaviour.'
A smaller number of families are sensitive to salicylates. For best results with the most sensitive babies, mothers can do a trial of an elimination diet supervised by a dietitian, although it is important to check with your doctor first in case there is medical cause of your baby's problems. Ruth's baby was 5 months old when she started on her elimination diet. 'Within a couple of days there was a total change', said Ruth. 'It was quite miraculous. Her eczema cleared up, she was settled and she was sleeping well'.
More information
- Food allergy: www.allergyfacts.org.au.
- Food intolerance: www.fedup.com.au.
- A list of supportive dietitians is available from confoodnet@ozemail.com.au
- Sue's new DVD, Fed Up with Children's Behaviour, is available through www.fedup.com.au, from Angus and Robertson bookstores and selected outlets. The Failsafe recipe booklet is freely downloadable from the Fed Up website. The DVD and cookbook are also available from Mothers Direct.
About the author
Sue Dengate is a psychology graduate and former high school teacher who became interested in the effects of foods on children's behaviour as a result of her own children's experiences. She is author of the Fed Up series of books and runs the Food Intolerance Network with her husband Dr Howard Dengate, a food scientist.
NASTY ADDITIVES |
| ARTIFICIAL COLOURS |
| 102 tartrazine, 104 quinoline yellow, 107 yellow 2G, 110 sunset yellow, 122 azorubine,
123 amaranth, 124 ponceau red, 127 erythrosine, 128 red 2G, 129 allura red, 132 indigotine, 133 brilliant blue, 142 green S, 151 brilliant black, 155 chocolate brown |
| NATURAL COLOUR |
| 160b | annatto |
| PRESERVATIVES - sulphite preservatives are most associated with asthma |
| 200-203 | sorbates (in margarine, dips, cakes, fruit products) |
| 210-213 | benzoates (in juices, soft drinks, cordials, syrups) |
| 220-228 | sulphites (in dried fruit, fruit drinks, sausages, and others) |
| 280-283 | propionates (in bread, crumpets, bakery products) |
| 249-252 | nitrates, nitrites (in processed meats like ham) |
| ANTIOXIDANTS - synthetic antioxidants in vegetable oils and margarines |
| 310-312 | Gallates |
| 319-320 | TBHQ, BHA, BHT |
| FLAVOUR ENHANCERS |
| 621 | MSG (in tasty foods, fast foods, snack foods) |
| 627, 631, 635 | disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, ribonucleotides
(can be associated with itchy skin rashes) |
| HVP | hydrolysed vegetable protein, vegetable protein, yeast extract |
| ADDED FLAVOURS |
| There are thousands of artificial flavours which don't have to be identified by number because they are considered to be trade secrets. Flavours may contain unlisted artificial colours and preservatives. |
References
- Bateman B, Warner JO, Hutchinson E, Dean T, Rowlandson P, Gant C, et al. The effects of a double blind, placebo controlled, artificial food colourings and benzoate preservative challenge on hyperactivity in a general population sample of preschool children. Archives of disease in childhood 2004;89(6):506-11.
- Clarke L, McQueen J, Samild A, Swain A. The dietary management of food allergy and food intolerance in children and adults. Australian Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics 1996;53(3):89-94.
- Dengate S, Ruben A. Controlled trial of cumulative behavioural effects of a common bread preservative. Journal of Paediatrics and child health 2002;38(4):373-6.
- Lau K, McLean WG, Williams DP, Howard CV. Synergistic interactions between commonly used food additives in a developmental neurotoxicity test. Toxicol Sci 2006;90(1):178-87.
- Rowe KS, Rowe KJ. Synthetic food coloring and behavior: a dose response effect in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, repeated-measures study. J Pediatr 1994;125(5 Pt 1):691-8. A 21-day, double-blind, placebo-controlled, repeated-measures study identified 24 children as clear reactors to tartrazine artificial food colouring (102).
- Swain AR, Dutton SP, Truswell AS. Salicylates in foods. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1985;85(8):950-60.
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