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Additives and Child behaviour |
EFSA evaluates Southampton study on food additives and child behaviour
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) AFC Panel
Considering the overall weight of evidence and in view of the considerable uncertainties
Scientists at Europe’s food safety watchdog have completed an assessment of a recent study on the effect of two mixtures of certain food colours and the preservative sodium benzoate2 on children’s behaviour. The study, published last year by researchers at Southampton University in the United Kingdom (McCann et al, 2007), suggested a link between these mixtures and hyperactivity in children.3, with the help of experts in behaviour, child psychiatry, allergy and statistics, concluded that this study provided limited evidence that the mixtures of additives tested had a small effect on the activity and attention of some children. However, the effects observed were not consistent for the two age groups and for the two mixtures used in the study.4, such as the lack of consistency and relative weakness of the effect and the absence of information on the clinical significance of the behavioural changes observed, the Panel concluded that the findings of the McCann et al study could not be used as a basis for altering the ADI5 of the respective food colours or sodium benzoate. |
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