Christmas is often a tricky time for children susceptible to the effects of artificial food colourings. There are so many more sweet temptations on offer, and sadly some children need to steer well clear.
My own son does Nippers at our local beach and last Sunday was the last session before Christmas. At the end of the session all the young Nippers received a special visit from Santa - which was great for many of them, but not for my son.
Santa came along with a big red sack and all the children looked at him eagerly. Then he pulled out some goodies from inside the bag - a small pack of Allen's lollies for every child in the group. The children all lined up and happily waited their turn, then received their prize and went their own ways to devour their lollies. My son, however, received his bag of lollies then came over to me with a very disappointed look on his face. He knew he wouldn't be able to eat the lollies as they contained all sorts of artificial colours in them - and its just not worth it for everyone involved.
Instead we came home and he had some Natural Confectionery lollies which are free of artificial colours. He was happy with this, as he knows there is usually an alternative which is available. But its a shame he couldn't just join in at the beach.
My question to the big manufactures is this - why is it that some companies can process food without the extra colourings, while others insist on putting them in. Clearly, if some companies can do without the added colours they are hardly a necessary ingredient. A green lolly can still look green without an extra colour enhancer. But what these companies don't understand is the impact this has on our children.
In parts of Europe and elsewhere many of these artificial colours are banned. Why can't we do the same in Australia?
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