Cool drinks and ice blocks

Well, its been hot in Australia recently, really hot. And many of us are reaching for the ice-blocks and cold drinks in a bid to cool down on the inside as well as the outside.

But if you have a negative reaction to artificial food colourings or 211 preservative then this takes a little more thought than just reaching into the fridge or freezer for the first cold item that comes to hand.

You know those bottles of mineral water with flavours in them - the ones produced by manufacturers such as Deep Spring. They make a good range of lightly flavoured drinks with 'orange and passionfruit' and other interesting tastes. They are certainly nice and refreshing in hot weather. The bottles even say they have 'natural colours and flavours'.

Well, that may be so, but they also contain preservative 211, and therein lies the problem.

My son used to drink these a few summers ago because we thought that a 'lightly sparkling mineral water' with 'natural colours' would be just fine for him. Not like those other heavily coloured fizzy drinks you can buy in the supermarket chains and vending machines which just scream at you "danger - keep out!"

But then, after an ongoing period of drinking this so-called 'mineral water' my son became extremely hyper with a total lack of concentration, silly behaviour and generally dysfunction.

We later worked out that the culprit was preservative 211 inside the mineral water. The bottle might have seemed friendly enough but clearly it was far from it.

Similarly with ice blocks - unless we buy the SPC brand (currently with Toy Story images on them) or Icy-Pole blocks we are really heading for a nightmare time. Most of the standard ice-blocks on sale are jam-packed with all sorts of artificial colours and are absolutely terrible for many children susceptible to behavioural impacts. Been there, done that - never again, thank you very much.

So if you are trying to cool down this summer, try something a little safer. The new LOL brands are safe and tasty (amazing but true). Otherwise stick to good old fashioned water or double check all the ingredients on the back of every item before you buy it.

Artificial colours to avoid

Well, another year has descended upon us and we continue our vigilance against artificial colours in our food and drink.

So what are the artificial colours to avoid? I will list these in two  groups.

The first is often known as the "Southampton Six" as they were the subject of some significant studies conducted in Southampton in the UK several years ago. The studies were funded by the Food Standards Agency and indicated these colours can have a major impact on some children's behaviour, including increased hyperactivity. The studies also found the same outcomes with preservative E211, sodium benzoate. These six colours, and E211, are therefore the most serious colours we deal with. They are generally reds and yellows and are as follows:

• E102 - Tartrazine
• E104 - Quinoline yellow
• E110 - Sunset yellow
• E122 - Azorubine / Carmoisine
• E124 - Ponceau 4R
• E129 - Allura red

The second group comprises of several more artificial colours which, in my experience, also have a major impact on children's behaviour. These are as follows:

• E123 - Amaranth (deep brown red)
• E127 - Erythrosine (cherry pink)
• E132 - Indigotine (blue denim)
• E133 - Brilliant blue
• E142 - Green S
• E143 - Fast green
• E151 - Brilliant black
• E155 - Brown HT

Good luck with avoiding these artificial colours in our food and drink. They are widely used and it is often quite a challenge to stay on top of them all.

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