Rivera Calls for Warning Labels on Foods which Contain Artificial Food Colorings and Sodium Benzoate

Rivera calls for increased measures to protect children from food additives that have been found to cause hyperactivity and attention span disorders

NEW YORK, NY (10/30/2007)(readMedia)-- Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera, chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Mental Health, today during a public hearing on the dangers to children’s health caused by artificial food colorings and the preservative sodium benzoate, has called for warning labels on all food products containing such ingredients. Rivera’s legislation will mandate a black box warning and places large civil penalties on food manufacturers that refuse to warn consumers on the dangers of consuming products with these additives.

The public hearing and the proposed ban have been prompted by a recent study that conclusively linked hyperactivity and attention span disorders in children to their consumption of foods containing both artificial food colorings and the preservative sodium benzoate. The research sponsored by the British equivalent of the FDA and published last month found that attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children could be reduced by as much as 60% by eliminating those ingredients from their diets.

“These are significant findings and provide us with a tool to help the more than 7 million American children now being medicated to control ADHD,” stated Rivera.

Since 1996 there has been a 35% increase in the use of prescription drugs to treat ADHD and the FDA has reported that in some elementary and middle schools as many as 6% of all students are on such drugs. According to Rivera, its has been more than 25 years since the FDA and the National Institute on Mental Health looked comprehensively at the impact of food additives on children’s health. “Today, we have 3,794 different additives used in food, 3,640 of those are used purely for cosmetic purposes, 63 are used as preservatives,” he stated.

His proposed legislation would require a black box warning on all such foods and places a $10,000 civil penalty on food manufacturers which fail to place the warning label on food products sold that contain any artificial food coloring and the preservative sodium benzoate.

“Food colorings are used for purely cosmetic reasons and most parents don’t know they are made from coal tar and petroleum, substances no intended for human consumption,” Rivera declared.

-30-