Based on another thread, it seems that there are many of us trying to keep artificial dyes and preservatives out of our diets. This is a great place to share tips, brands, etc with each other.
About us...
Why are we eating this way? We are doing it a) because all the chemicals we eat re not necessary and b) DS (5) appears to have behavioral issues related to artificial dyes.
About 90% of the groceries we bring in to the house fit the criteria of having 5 or fewer ingredients on the label. Our exceptions tend to be cereals, the cheese tortellini we keep on hand, and the rare snack food (crackers, veggie fruit snacks). Even cooking from scratch, I generally spend under 30 minutes cooking dinner every night. Now if only I could get our food budget to a reasonable level!
I try not to buy anything with dye, artificial flavors, or preservatives. I read the label of every item I purchase and can't imagine not doing so.
Some of the more obvious things that we do to avoid dyes:
- only 100% juice (when we buy it, which isn't often. Though you'd be surprised what you find in even "100% juice." It's rarely juice + water. I try to only buy the Whole Foods brand small juice boxes). No Gatorade even though my kids ask for it.
- 100% juice/naturally dyed popsicles. There are just a couple mainstream options for this--Breyers Simply Fruit is one I think. Obvious other option is to make your own.
- No colored yogurts, fruit roll-ups, gummy snacks, etc. Alternatives: the same brand that makes fruit roll-ups makes a simply fruit one that I can sometimes find at Target that is not artificially colored; Annie's fruit bunnies; Stonyfield or Horizon yogurt tubes, but usually we just buy plain yogurt and mix in fruit puree or a touch of maple syrup.
- no Kraft mac n cheese. Only Annie's brand, if we buy it.
- they love "Cheetos" so we only buy the Trader Joe's one. Usually, though, chips are Kettle brand organic potato chips. Also corn or blue corn chips if they are made with non-GMO corn. Kettle brand now makes flavored Dorito-like chips called Tias.
- I only buy a couple types of cereal. Most cereals are totally out of the question for us because of sugar content and not being mostly whole-grain. Talking just about coloring though, Trader Joe's makes 'Fruit Loops' type cereal that is naturally dyed. (I'll occasionally mix that into a trail mix or as a treat on a long trip...sweet cereal is never an option for breakfast at our house.)
- I will only buy candy that is colored naturally, but if they get candy elsewhere it is ok with me if they have it (same with frosting). Trader Joes candy is good for this, or Yummy Earth lollipops (available in bulk on Amazon, sometimes on incredible sale).
- Vitamins with natural dyes and only dye-free medicines when possible. We buy vitamins at Whole Foods.
The non-obvious stuff is that food dye is in some white and egg (yellow) bread/rolls, is in some vanilla ice cream at fast-food restaurants (Chik Fil A ice cream for example), etc.
For the most part, my goal has been to get them used to the muted colors of naturally colored foods as early as possible so that they consider that the "norm."
I'm going to subscribe to this so I can follow along. I'm going to be making some changes in our house and I know my kids will fight it every step of the way. With my almost 8 year old I can explain the reasoning behind it and he's usually on board with it. My first few shopping trips will have to be me alone so I can take the time to read the labels.
We don't have Trader Joes but we do have Whole Foods. Our grocery store is 5 minutes away though which makes that much more easier to get to.
I was reading that other thread the other day and thinking that we do eat mostly 'whole' foods and DD doesn't eat a lot of candy, etc where you would typically find dyes- then later the same day I took her to the Ped for an ear infection where she got not 1, but TWO lollipops! Imagine my head exploding.
I had not thought of 'colored' yogurt. We get the TJ's brand and I read the label when we originally started getting it, but it's been awhile. A lot of things, I think DD just hasn't gotten there yet. We don't do juice at all, or popsicles, we do only annie's mac & cheese (DD's absolute FAVORITE food =/), we don't buy a lot of chips- usually just pita chips or tortilla chips, cereal is only kix or cheerios, we're pretty not fun. Probably my big secret shame is that we use Flintstones vitamins. I did try 2 different kinds from Whole Foods, but DD wouldn't eat them. In desperation I got Flintstones and of course she loves them. So I need to work on that.
Yogurt concerns would be things like Go-gurt, not TJs stuff. Actually I just looked it up and Gogurt uses cochineal...that is 'natural' but is actually from insects. So I look for things like beet extract, not just the word 'natural.'
I try to but almost 100% organic food because not only am I worried about what they are adding to the food but the chemicals from the growing/producing process as well. Recently Costco has been carrying a lot more organic stuff, which has helped lower our food bill a bit. The one thing I have difficulty finding is organic grass fed beef. It seems it is either organic or grass fed but not both. A recent great find at Whole Foods has been the Garden of Eatin organic taco kits. I used to buy the mainstream brand of taco kits because my kids loved them but they were loaded with weird additives. The Garden of Eatin ones taste the same and have no chemicals added.
With summer coming, I would love to hear some good fruit popsicle recipes! In my experience, if you make them with straight juice the fruit part sinks to the bottom and the top is just ice. We've mixed a little yogurt in which helps, but does make it more rich. We buy popsicles at TJs in a pinch but it would b a lot cheaper to make them.
Originally Posted by Taurus
Yogurt concerns would be things like Go-gurt, not TJs stuff. Actually I just looked it up and Gogurt uses cochineal...that is 'natural' but is actually from insects. So I look for things like beet extract, not just the word 'natural.'
Go-gurts come in all sorts of colors, though, it's not just the red. Sometimes they serve those at my kids' preschool and it really bothers me. Parents bring in the snacks for the whole class everyday because we're a co-op. I've been trying to think of a way to spread the news about food dyes that won't be seen as condescending or judgmental! Or they'll serve something for a birthday treat and the colors in the popsicles or frosting or whatever I'm sure are full of chemical dyes. We haven't seen behavior problems from it but I've always kept those out of our diet so for all I know they could cause problems if we ate them more.
Goldfish are now made with natural colorings, but the red ones are made from annatto seeds, not beetles, so that's good to know.
There are tons of homemade popsicle recipes floating around pinterest these days, but I haven't tried any (yet). I was thinking of blending a smoothie and then making that into popsicles so that there aren't any fruit chunks...
Eating Dye- and Preservative Free
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Probably my big secret shame is that we use Flintstones vitamins. I did try 2 different kinds from Whole Foods, but DD wouldn't eat them. In desperation I got Flintstones and of course she loves them. So I need to work on that.
Originally Posted by Taurus
