Food additives to kids' food-action taken!

Doctor Who, Spider Man, and Barbie used to sell food full of E-numbers

By SEAN POULTER - More by this author »
Last updated at 09:29am on 5th November 2007
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1798


Food companies are using children's characters, including Doctor Who, Spider-Man and Barbie, to sell products laced with suspect additives.

Chemicals identified as causing hyperactive behaviour in healthy children were found in 95 per cent of top-selling cakes and hundreds of sweets, fizzy drinks and processed foods.

Details emerged as campaigners announced a soon-to-be launched "name and shame" website to help parents identify foods their children should avoid.

The site has been created by the Food Commission in support of the Daily Mail's Ban the Additives campaign.

Last month, a Southampton University study warned artificial colours had a "significant adverse effect" on children's wellbeing.

Its author, Professor Jim Stevenson, warned parents they were risking their children's psychological and physical health by giving them junk food packed with additives.

Despite this, the Food Standards Agency has refused to ban the chemicals, allowing manufacturers to continue using them.

The Action on Additives website, which is being set up by Lizzie Vann, founder of Organix, which sells organic baby food, lists a range of additives parents should avoid, including tartrazine (E102), ponceau-4R (E124) and sunset yellow (E110).

It reveals Tesco's Doctor Who Tardis cake contains three of the suspect colours, while other cakes featuring children's characters, such as Dora The Explorer, My Little Pony, Barbie and The Simpsons, also use numerous additives.

An Action on Additives spokesman said: "The website gives parents the chance to expose companies which use these questionable additives. The website already lists more than 100 products, most of which are brightly coloured in order to attract children.

"With the help of the Daily Mail's readers we hope to expose every product in the UK which continues to use these unwanted and unnecessary additives."

David Brooks, of Finsbury Foods, whose firm Lightbody makes the Doctor Who cakes, said: "The most important thing for consumers when you are talking about a birthday cake is that it looks fantastic.

"Sometimes, you have to use artificial colours to give the appearance people want as the centrepiece of the celebration."


The FSA has agreed to place a link to the website on its own additive information pages.