On Monday night 60 Minutes ran an interesting story on food coloring and its effects on children. If you missed it check it out here: http://www.3news.co.nz/Off-Colour/tabid/209/articleID/110224/cat/31/Default.aspx

In quick summary they did an experiment with a group of kids that showed that if kids were fed food with artificial food coloring it in they would react quite differently afterwards to those kids who had been fed “healthy” food. In the UK food colorings are under review but in NZ the food safety authority does not want a bar of any concerns and is adamant that there is nothing wrong with food coloring.

Yesterday a group of dietitians complained to the herald that the show was biased (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10582129)

In summary:

“The experiment conducted by TV3 was probably one of the most biased you could ever hope to see and only showed that if you hype children up enough with expectations and make them very excited about unlimited treat food that they hardly ever have, then they will behave badly,”

Of course this completely misses the fact that the children who got a feast of unlimited healthy food did not appear to be that hyped up, or behaved badly. In fact initially both groups were very similar at the start.

Today 60 Minutes has responded: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10582373

60 Minutes acting executive producer Keith Slater responded today, saying a study by Britain’s Southampton University found a link between food colours and hyperactivity and had prompted the European Union to urge food manufacturers to implement a voluntary ban, and for Britian’s food standards agency to call for six artificial colours to be phased out.

“New Zealand, by comparison, is doing nothing” and this was the point of the story, he said.

He said viewers of the Off Colour report were told the experiment wasn’t scientific and it was “a simple test to see if the children appeared to react to food in any way”.

The food was chosen by a paediatrician and the experiment was overseen by a psychologist who noticed “immediate changes in the behaviour of the children eating the unhealthy food”, Mr Slater said.

The children found it difficult to concentrate and had problems with co-ordination and writing.

Mr Slater said the children were not hyped up in any way.

One wonders if the so called experts who critized the show actually watched it before they commented.

Tags: 60 minutes, Food, TV3

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