NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Registered dietitian and Middle Tennessee State University lecturer Sarah Harris recently offered Midstate television news viewers some insights for viewers considering snack and meal options that are free of dyes as a result of the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration ban of the Red No. 3 food dye.
A 2010 alumna of the Nutrition and Food Science program in the university’s College of Behavioral and Health Sciences, the state-licensed dietitian stopped by the WKRN-TV News 2 studios for their “MTSU on 2” segment on Friday, Feb. 21.
“There’s no need to panic about food dyes, but it is important for consumers to understand what ingredients are in the foods they eat every day and be fully informed about the potential risks of consuming artificial dyes.”
You can watch the segment, part of the station’s Local on 2 programming, with program co-host and producer Laura Schweizer and co-host Stephanie Langston below.
“The most important action you can take to minimize exposure to food dye is to read the ingredient list to find out if foods you eat every day have Red dye No. 3, which can also be known as erythrosine on a label and choose dye-free alternatives.”
Harris said red dyes are found in fruit snacks, cereals, sodas, sports drinks, juices, yogurt, frozen treats, flavored milk, sauces and more.
She suggests looking at ingredient lists and looking for foods that are dyed using natural ingredients like vegetable juice.
Some examples and alternatives include:
Strawberry milk
- Strawberry Yoplait is colored with vegetable juice.
- Strawberry Carnation Instant Breakfast is colored with beet juice.
- Yoo-hoo Strawberry is colored with Red 30, Red 3 and Blue 1.
- Nesquik Strawberry is colored with Red 3.
- Prairie Farms Strawberry Milk is colored with beet juice.
The best alternative to strawberry milk, according to Harris, is a smoothie with frozen fruit.
Fruit Snacks
- Mott’s fruit snacks are colored using vegetable and fruit juices.
- Welch’s fruit snacks use Red 40 and Blue 1.
Harris said the best alternative would be whole fruit.
Medications
- Children’s Robitussin is colored with Red 40.
- DayQuil Kids is dye-free.
Harris suggests looking for the dye-free label on medications.
Sports Drinks
- Fruit punch Gatorade and Powerade are colored with Red 40.
- Grape Gatorade is colored with Red 40 and Blue 1.
- Body Armor and Prime are colored with vegetable juice or beta-carotene.
“It’s always a great idea to review the ingredient list on the products you and your family use every day, not only for dyes but also any ingredients you don’t recognize or know to be detrimental, such as partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup, which come with their own risks as well,” Harris said.
Harris received her master’s in clinical nutrition from the University of Memphis in 2011 and returned to her alma mater as a full-time instructor in 2021.
To learn more about MTSU’s College of Behavioral and Health Science programs, visit https://cbhs.mtsu.edu/.
— DeAnn Hays (deann.hays@mtsu.edu)
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