When reading through the ingredients list on these supplemental fuels I was consuming pre/during/post race, I noticed that some had artificial colors that were added to the product. We are all familiar with these dyes which are in a lot of common foods, drinks, and supplements that we consume on a regular basis (soda, Gatorade, candy, etc.) I did a little research on food colorings and dyes and found a lot of controversial issues surrounding the topic. Below is a table that has associated health affects with consuming the following color dyes in foods.
Smart GuideTo Food Dyes:
www.iatp.org/files/421_2_105204.pdf
The FDA has approved that food coloring is safe, but on the other hand has also banned specific food colors from being used because of health affects. The colors that have been banned from use include red numbers 2, 4, & 32; Orange 1 &2; Yellow 1,2,3, &4.
Just by digging through articles from the perspectives of consumers, industries, and the FDA we can already see there is a trend of uncertainty on the topic. The FDA seems to approve some colors, but not others due to health reasons. Thus, we can probably assume that the consumption of artificial colors and dyes are probably not in our best interest. These colors added to the food serve no purpose of enhancing the taste, it is purely to influence the perceived flavor in the food item we are about to consume!
