Food Dye Allergies...How do You find Out?

[dubfam]

So I think that my son might be allergic to Red #40 and maybe some other dyes.
how do we find out for sure?

He rarely eats refined sugar or food containing dyes since we don't buy these types of food. He gets really wild from sugar, but it seems like it might be worse when there is a dye involved. Since his intake is so infrequent, though, it is really hard to tell. I want to be able to tell the people who like to give him this stuff (grandparents etc.) that he is allergic (without lying...)

So is there a test or something that can be done? I am also interested in checking for dairy, soy, nut and preservative allergies. He has almost ADD style behavior sometimes and I really think it is something that he is eating...

[Mrsboyko]

Watching this for responses about the dyes.

As for the other stuff, dairy, nuts, soy, you can see an allergist. We went last week with my 12 month old. They did their basic test, which means they have a total of 6 pads with 8 prongs each, 1 prong for each thing they are testing. Her whole back was filled. They had me nurse her while they did it to keep her calm (good thing she didn't bite). They let it sit for 20 mins then came back to see what reacted. We had 11 positive things:. We go back tomorrow for the environmental allergy testing. There was no room on her back to do it last week. I don't know about the preservatives either, though i bet they have a test for that too.

[bobica]

for us it's been anecdotal. she had a reaction (up from 3 am until noon : ) to orange colored motrin when she was 16 months old. then a few months later, i made jiffy muffins & they had red bits & she didn't nap for the rest of the day. that was enough for me.

as she got older, she'd eat something like "fruit" snacks or a cupcake with colored frosting & get horrible diarrhea which would burn her bum (she'd bleed ) and last for about 5 hours.

we keep her away from dyes as much as we can. she's now 4 1/2 and is more aware of the effect dyes have on her system & she's less likely to test the limits.

i think she may also react to HFCS but i'm not sure. we avoid that anyway :

[JBaxter]

Red and yellow dyes are EVIL>>>>>> I by luck figured out my son's problem if not Im sure we would be medicating him by now and he just turned 4 ( yes it was that bad).
We ate a fairly healthy diet but it only takes a small amout. He recently had strep throat and the ped gave me a script for zithromax it was pink against my better judgement I gave him 1 dose ( 1 tsp) he ran in circles in my house jumped on the furniture , kicked and hit the dog scribbled on the floor for 3 hrs till he was so physically exhausted he collapsed all with a throat that looked like raw hamburger and 102 temp. I made them change his meds to a non pink one ( took 3 trips to the pharmacy)

I tell everyone he is allergic because he is in my mind. I belong to www.feingold.org they have a shopping guide you can get that has pre-researched foods w/out dyes its a great help

[mistymama]

I don't know how you get a solid diagnosis, because we haven't gone that route. But I'm sure there are allergy tests for it.

I didn't need a test to tell me ... I already suspected red #40 made him hyper and act really out of character. But it was confirmed when we were on vacation and a friend gave him a bottle of Hawaiian Punch. OMG. Within 30 mins he was being sooo BAD. Seriously, he hit me (and he's 5 and knows way better!) was running circles around the condo and getting into everything possible. It was awful!

I decided then and there, he's allergic and NEVER will he have red #40 again!!

[ejsmommy]

As far as I know there are no tests for artificial colors/flavors...but I do know that dd1 can't have them. Recently, I discovered that she is sensitive to High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) too. We are trying to avoid anything artificial but have not yet done the whole Feingold diet. There is a woman on these boards who knows a lot about all of this...WuWei. Try doing a search in the Special Needs Forum and also the Parenting The Gifted Child Forum for HFCS or artificial ingredients or red dye #40. I hope that's not against the rules.

We are doing a full allergy panel for other food sensitivities (wheat, dairy, soy etc.). Our ped believes if she is sensitve it will show up. Our ped is an osteopath and has been doing work on dd's head (old head trauma), after these sessions dd is like a different child. She listens better, makes more eye contact, is less rigid, more easy going and much more affecionate. It is amazing.

[wendy1221]

There are no allergy tests for food dyes.

[MamaMamaMama!]

Hey I just wanted to add that I recently went to a NAET practitioner for my ds and they do have the ability to check for sensitivity to dyes. They tested for muscle strength/weakness while he was touching vials with different substances in them. My ds is young enough to need it done through me so I held him in my lap while he held the vial, and the chiropractor tested my arm strength (I held out my arm and he pushed down on it, noting if my resistance changed). I'm not sure how it works but it does--I could feel for myself how much weaker I was when he was holding something he was sensitive to. You can do this at home, too; there is no magic to it.

[flapjack]

Yep- I was going to suggest classical kinesiology, which is another form of energy testing.
Of course, you could always tell your parents with seriousness that the red dyes used in the US aren't legal in the EU, and you don't feel comfortable with him eating them until more studies have been done

[Critty]

I am sensitive to red and yellow dyes (found out as an adult) and I have found this stie to be very helpful http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/ Unfortunately it won't show up in an allergy test, but if you do an elimination diet and then add the dyes back in, you can tell what effects your son. Good luck!

[Ruthla]

You could purchase some food coloring in the baking section of the supermarket, and test out red, yellow, and blue dyes individually. But I'm not sure if you really have time for proper testing before the holidays- you'd need a few weeks "clean" and then give him one dye, and if he doesn't react give him the same dye 2 or 3 days in a row, then keep him "clean" for another week or two and test another in the same way.

The dairy, egg, soy, etc allergies can be determined by tests at an allergist, but even those tests are not 100% accurate. Some subtle reactions to foods don't show up on those tests.

You may want to try the Feingold Program- this removes all synthetic dyes, plus the preservatives BHA, BHT, and TBHQ, and natural salicylates during "stage one". In "Stage 2" the salicylates are added back in slowly and carefuly to see if your child reacts to them, or to specific ones (some kids can handle apples but not tomatoes, for example.) Some kids also react to fragrances and to the chemicals in body products (soap, lotion, etc.)