A Europe-wide ban on artificial additives commonly found in sweets and drinks and linked to hyperactive behaviour in children has been ruled out by regulators.

Food campaigners reacted furiously to the decision by the European Food Safety Authority and are demanding that Britain takes unilateral action to remove the additives from food.

The EFSA decided that a £750,000 research project in Britain which identified a link between eating food packed with colourants and preservatives with impulsive and inattentive behaviour in children did not provide sufficient evidence to justify a policy change. The watchdog accepted that the findings may be relevant to children and young people who were sensitive to food additives, particularly artificial colours, but it said the research study was too limited to apply to the general population.

The EU body’s decision is a blow to the Food Standards Agency, which last September issued a warning to parents to keep their children off sweets, drinks and other food packed with additives if they were worried about behaviour.

The study by researchers at Southampton University found that children given drinks containing a cocktail of controversial E-numbers and the preservative sodium benzoate became boisterous and inattentive. They were unable to play with one toy or complete one task. Eight to nine-year-olds were unable to complete a 15-minute computer exercise. The results varied between children but, crucially, poor behaviour was observed in some children who had no history of hyperactivity or attention deficit disorder.

The study created such an outcry that food companies began removing and reducing additives. At the end of the month Marks & Spencer will become the first supermarket to remove all artificial flavourings and colourings from its food and drink range.

An FSA spokeswoman said that it would not comment on the decision until officials had studied the report. The list includes sunset yellow commonly written on food packs as (E110), quinoline yellow (E104), carmoisine (E122), allura red (E129), tartrazine (E102) and ponceau 4R (E124).

Products containing artificial additives

The Food Commission has compiled a list of 1,000 products on sale in the UK that contain artificial colourings. These include: Cadbury’s Creme Eggs (sunset yellow E110) and Mini Eggs (carmoisine E122, allura red E129); Irn Bru (sunset yellow E110, ponceau 4R E124, sodium benzoate E211); Colman’s Fresh Garden Mint Sauce (quinoline yellow E104); Diet Coke (sodium benzoate E211) Candyman Flying Saucers (quinoline yellow E104, carmoisine E122, ponceau 4R E124); Football Lucky Bag from Mr Lucky Bags Ltd (quinoline yellow E104, sunset yellow E110, carmoisine E122, ponceau 4R E124, allura red E129); Fry’s Turkish Delight (allura Red E129); Galaxy Minstrels (quinoline yellow E104, carmoisine E122, ponceau 4R E124).

Source: www.actiononadditives.com

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