Some helpful links for an artificial color free diet

So far my son has been artificial color free for a week and his dreaded hives have not returned. Of course a week is no where near long enough to be able to make any connection between artificial colors and his allergic reactions. We will also have to wait and see if there where any negative behaviours attached to him eating artificial colors. He has been quiet a lovely boy this last week but it's early days yet for any true observations.

Children's birthday cakes are behind me for a while but for those of you who's children are not born in winter. Check out this link to India Tree which sells natural food dyes and an assortment of edible decorative elements for decorating cakes. You can purchase some of India tree's products at Amazon as well. Wellnessgrocer offers another type of artificial dye free sprinkles which are pictured below.

I replaced my son's confiscated Easter candy with some great candies made by Pure Fun which I found at La Moisson (a health food grocer). To order them on line click on PureFun. I purchased Pure Fun Organic Candy Pure Pops and Pure Fun Citrus Slices which are hard candy. Because they are made with real flavors and colors they actually taste like the fruit flavors they are meant to represent. The sugar content of these candies is no better than regular candy so it should be doled out in moderation but it nice to know my kids aren't ingesting tartrazine and other nasty food colorants. If you want to think farther into the future without wishing summer away you can purchase, for your children, Halloween Sampler Packs. Apparently you need to order at least a month in advance as they go fast so bookmark this link: The Squirrel's Nest for fall. If you really like to think long term Pure Fun also has organic artificial color and artificial flavor free candy canes! La Moisson, link above, had some on sale but I just couldn't buy candy canes right now (thus the sale).

I am also looking into natural food dyes that can be found in your own home (such as turmeric). I am going to test some of the recipes and see what they give and share them with you.


To check out which foods contain what go to this link: IATP Brain Food Selector.