All language subtitles for To.Dye.For.The.Documentary.2024.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-FLUX

[no audio]

[Interviewer]

- Well, of course.

I mean, because the current
system at the end of the day,

what we have right
now doesn't do enough

to protect children.

[gentle music]

- Food coloring,
artificial color, food dye,

artificial dye,
synthetic food dye.

Not all that exciting, huh?

Why would anyone choose
to watch a documentary

about such a seemingly
pointless topic?

If you're feeling
skeptical, you're not alone.

I, for one never in my
wildest dreams imagined this

even being a topic
of conversation,

much less the theme of my
first ever documentary.

Synthetic dyes at a glance
seem fairly innocent,

and though they may
be pretty obvious

and brightly colored junk food,

they often hide in places
you wouldn't think about.

Like white foods, brown foods,

medications, and sports drinks.

Heck, that bag of popcorn
you're munching on right now,

well, you get the picture.

The unavoidable fact
that they're in so much

of our food supply is one thing,
but the dirty little secret

of what these chemicals are
doing to our body is another.

And something I was
completely oblivious to.

It's not as though the
information wasn't out there.

It's been a topic of discussion

and concern for decades.

I suppose it was just
never part of my narrative,

so it seemed insignificant.

- A new focus tonight
on the effects

of artificial food colors.

They're in most
everything you eat,

helping to make them look
vibrant and appealing.

- In the United States, the
approval of the amount of dyes

that are used in food has
quadrupled in recent years.

- Dyes that some doctors

and parents say can affect
your children's behavior.

- [Brandon] You see
that fellow right there,

the one immersed in
the editing process

amongst his impressive Back
to The Future collection.

Well, that's me.

And for the past two years
I've been passionately working

on this film.

In all honesty, I probably
had no business taking

on this endeavor.

By trade, I'm an
advertising photographer

and cinematographer
whose experience

in creating actual films
is limited to a music video

about my city and an
eight minute short film

about a time traveling couch
potato with a magic watch.

Had I known what was involved
in taking on a project

of this magnitude, this
film may not exist.

But alas, they say ignorance
is bliss and conviction

is a pretty strong motivator.

How did I arrive at this
conviction you may ask.

Well, that's where
this story begins.

And let me clarify.

This story doesn't start
with me. It starts with her.

[gentle music]

At the heart of this film

is a mother's
unwavering commitment

to her children's wellbeing
despite the obstacles

in her path.

That mother is my wife, Whitney.

[birds chirping]

- [Whitney] You ready?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

- One plus one is two.

- If you were to look
at our son today,

you would never guess that
he faced any challenges.

You would see a child
that is smart and sweet,

he's compassionate and kind.

He's a bundle of virtues,

and he is everything you
would want in a child.

And I feel very fortunate
that God made me his mama.

Atreyu was a bit of a puzzle
between ages one and three.

We were getting some
really concerning reports

from his Sunday school
teachers and his teachers,

and it was just starting
to feel like a series

of like gut punches.

He was really struggling
to control his emotions,

and to keep his
hands to himself.

And so we were constantly
doing this balancing act

between is this normal
toddler behavior

or is there something wrong?

So the real puzzle was
trying to figure out

why some days ended in
multiple phone calls,

several writeups, just these
really big emotional meltdowns

that we as a family
had to recover from.

And then other days were
surprisingly serene.

Like you could talk
him through situations,

whereas some days you couldn't
reason with him at all.

So as his mom, I was really
determined to help him.

I'd devoured every
parenting book

and podcast I could
get my hands on.

We consulted doctors
and therapists,

but nothing seemed
like it was helping.

And it was at that point that
we were really at a juncture,

something had to change.

So the only change
that I could think

of at this point was his diet.

So I started doing some
research, searching for foods

that could cause behavioral
issues in children.

And I came across an article

that suggested
eliminating wheat, dairy,

and synthetic dyes.

This was a 30 day
elimination diet,

and we started reading labels
and we eliminated wheat, dairy

and synthetic dyes.

48 hours later, we quite
literally had a different child.

- Hey mama.

- Those good days,
those like glimpses

of a really easy
going, kind, calm,

easy to reason with child,

that was a child that we
had for 30 days straight.

After the 30 days we
reintroduced wheat

and we saw no effect.

We reintroduced the dairy
and we saw no effect.

And then we reintroduced
synthetic dyes,

and within 15 minutes all
the behaviors we were seeing

before the elimination
diet came flooding back.

So we were pretty surprised
because the only place

that he was really regularly
getting synthetic dyes

were through his
allergy medicine

and the occasional prescription

or over-the-counter medication
that we were giving him.

And so we were really shocked
that something so small,

and such a small amount of
something could dramatically

impact his behavior.

And so we quite literally

have not touched
synthetic dyes since.

[bright music]

- I think the world needs to
know that the best science

that we have shows that
dyes can harm children.

In terms of the kind of
harm that dyes can do,

its effects on neuro behavior,

effects on attention
activity, restlessness.

And also some studies have
shown effects on sleeplessness,

irritability, and aggression.

- So there are nine
synthetic color additives

that are approved
for use in food.

There are others that
can be used in cosmetics,

and they are blue 1,
blue 2, citrus red 2,

green 3, orange
b, red 3, red 40,

yellow 5 and yellow 6.

- Because of the way
that they're made,

some contain compounds that
we know are carcinogenic,

or cancer-causing compounds.

Also, we know red 3 and
yellow 5 can be genotoxic,

which means that they
directly cause DNA damage,

that can potentially
lead to a tumor

or something that's passed
from parent to child.

- The synthetic dyes
were first to introduced

the United States way
back in the middle

of the 19th century
over 160 years ago.

The FDA first began to
regulate them at the beginning

of the 20th century around 1906.

By the 1920's, we
had begun to see

the first publicly
published worries

that food was somehow related
to child behavior problems.

And then in the 1970's we
had a major interest in it

generated by Dr. Feingold's
claims that food dyes

and additives and salicylates
are affecting hyperactivity.

- He thought that
synthetic food dyes

were causing adverse
behavioral effects.

This was just based on
his own observations,

but it really
created a firestorm,

and studies started to be done

and the studies were done over
the years, over the years.

And now here we are,

and we now know that
Benjamin Feingold was right.

- So for a long time I
was really apprehensive

about sharing our story,

not really out of
self-preservation,

but I really felt like
our story was kind of hard

to believe, but I
decided to be brave

and I started sharing our
story with friends and family.

And I was really surprised

because not only did
people believe me,

but they started
sharing their stories,

or their cousin's stories
or their friend's stories.

And so I wanted to create a
space for families like ours

to come together
and help each other.

So I started a Facebook
group and it really blew up.

As the Facebook group
grew, it made me realize

just how common these
kinds of reactions are,

which in turn started to
create some anger in me.

And I became really
angry that children,

and maybe even
adults were suffering

and they had no idea
that the culprit

of their suffering could be
something like synthetic dyes.

So I became really obsessed
with synthetic dyes.

What are synthetic dyes?

What are they doing
to our bodies?

Does it go beyond
neurologic issues?

And so I really started digging
deep into research articles,

and I was trying to decode
this scientific jargon.

I'm college educated,

but I still found myself
being really overwhelmed

and I had a lot of questions.

So I really wanted to speak to
these researchers in person.

So I asked Brandon
if he'd be willing

to document our journey,
and it took some convincing,

but obviously you're
watching a documentary.

So he agreed.

- [Brandon] And just like that,

we were in the
documentary business.

This adventure would take
us across the country,

and eventually overseas
in pursuit of the truth

behind the effects
of synthetic dyes.

But it had to start somewhere.

With no prior credibility and
armed only with the vision,

we managed to convince
Dr. Rebecca Bevans,

renowned professor
of psychology,

known for her TEDx
talk on synthetic dyes,

captivating audiences with
over 300,000 views on YouTube,

and a staggering 10
million views across TikTok

to sit down with us
for an interview.

Little did we know this
interview would be the catalyst

that snowballed the
rest of our film.

[bright music]

- [Whitney] Hi.
- Hi, how are you?

- This is so crazy.
- I know, right?

[Rebecca screaming]

- [Whitney] You've
got this girl!

- Alex was a super sweet baby.

He was easygoing,
just a really gentle,

really fun, super happy kid.

As he started getting older,

he was definitely an
energetic little guy.

He was go, go, go, go, go.

He was just all over the place,

into everything, super curious.

And the older he got, the
more intense kind of he got.

When he went off
to kindergarten,

his teacher on the second
week tried to tell me

that he had ADHD.

And his doctor, you know,
refused to assess him for ADHD.

He said, he's just a really
brilliant little kid,

and he'll settle into school.

And so he did, he settled
into kindergarten,

He did all right.

First grade, he had
an amazing teacher

who kept him busy, giving
him work from grades ahead

and there wasn't a lot
of behavioral problems,

but the behavioral problems
really, really started

when he was in second grade.

We started to see the
inability to focus,

and to pay attention and to
get along with other kids

and to get along
with the instructor.

And he would just get
up out of his chair,

and get back down in his chair
and get up out of his chair

and get back down on his chair.

So I kept asking him,
you know, come on bud,

let's just focus, just
focus and get this done.

And he says to me, I
can't. I can't focus mom.

My brain buzzes.

And I was like, okay,
what do you mean?

He goes, it's just buzzes.

And I was really grateful
that he could articulate that.

My PhD is in cognitive
neuroscience,

brains aren't supposed to buzz.

So I started down the
Google rabbit hole

of looking for all the
information on brain buzzing.

And I found a blog, and
it was a 15-year-old

who was talking about
how when she ate red 40,

her brain buzzed.

I was like, all right, this
is the only thing I got going,

let's give this a shot.

We pulled all the
red 40 from his diet

which was rough at first, but
we noticed within a week or so

that the brain buzzing
wasn't there anymore,

and the other ADHD
type behaviors.

So we waited until
there was winter break,

we pulled it out, he
went back to school.

Not a totally different
kid, but a different kid.

It was much easier for him.

In hindsight, I don't know
why we thought it was okay

to give him other colors.

Most of the time
there is a correlation

between red 40
and hyperactivity.

So we thought, okay, fine,
red 40 was the problem,

and we didn't think about
yellow, and green and blue.

So he switched from his
favorite candy being red

to his favorite
candies being yellow.

Now towards the end
of second grade,

he was having these
emotional meltdowns.

Once a month he
would throw a fit.

And then it was like once a
week he would throw a fit.

And I'm talking, hey bud, can
you turn off the television?

We got to eat.

And he would have a meltdown.

He would cry and
he would scream,

and he would scratch at himself
or he'd pull his shirts.

He would just have this
little rage reaction.

So we get him
through second grade,

and then we go on vacation
and we go to Hawaii.

We're eating shaved ice
once to twice a day,

and he would get the yellow.

So he went from having
a meltdown a week,

to a meltdown a day to
three meltdowns a day,

to just almost a constant.

By the time we got
home, it was really bad.

And that's when...

And it's still hard
for me to talk about.

We were in his room and
he is sitting on his bed,

and he was just screaming
and he was like,

I just need you to get me a
knife so I can kill myself.

To look at a 7-year-old
who just wants to die,

I was like, oh my God, if
he continues like this,

he won't make it to
his teenage years.

- In the middle of
the last century,

there was sort of
this growing concern

about harmful
chemicals in our food

due to a variety of factors.

And so this and sort of
mounting public pressure

led Congress to
pass two amendments

to the Federal Food,
Drug and Cosmetic Act.

The first one passed in 1958,

and that was the Food
Additive Amendment.

And the second passed in 1960,

and that was the Color
Additive Amendment.

And basically those
two laws require

that new food chemicals
be approved by FDA

before they went
into the market.

As a result of the Color
Additive Amendment,

many color additives that were
in use at that point in 1960

are no longer in use today.

So there was some recognition,

and there has been
recognition since

that the color additives

that were in use
were no longer safe.

And so in the process of trying
to regulate color additives,

manufacturers of food
dyes have to send a sample

of every batch of color
that they produce to FDA.

And as far as I know, those
are the only food chemicals

that are subject to that
type of certification.

I guess, because again,
there's just this great concern

about the safety
of color additives,

more so than other additives.

- [Brandon] Oh, that's a relief.

Glad to know there's somebody
looking out for us, right?

- So even though
policymakers recognize

that there are some
potential harms

that come from ingesting
color additives,

particularly synthetic
color additives,

they really haven't recognized
the neurobehavioral effects

of dyes yet.

FDA really has danced
around that one,

and won't do much of
anything to acknowledge that.

They still
characterize food dyes

as very safe on their website.

- In looking back,

it was very much almost
an abusive situation

where the person
that's being abused

doesn't wanna make
their abuser mad.

But my abuser was a
five-year-old child.

Evan was born in 2013, and he
was the cutest little baby,

and he was the sweet little
thing that would sit and cuddle.

And in 2016, my next
child was born, Eric.

So we had a little girl and
two little boys at that point.

We were super happy
and life was wonderful.

And then in 2017, Evan
started going to preschool

and I didn't notice
anything weird,

but I remember the teacher
telling me once in a while,

like one of his
little friends got up,

and he was sitting next to her

and he just pushed her
back down into her chair.

But it's preschool and
everybody's doing crazy stuff.

And I remember her saying,

that kind of thing happens once
in a while, not a big deal.

And then in 2018, he turned
five during the Summer,

and so he was gonna go to
kindergarten in the Fall.

And we started seeing
a lot of aggression

just as this little
five-year-old boy,

he would lose control
and turn into,

we call it the Incredible Hulk.

And I started to
develop exit strategies

for anywhere that I went.

If I went to the park,

I wanted to park close
to the playground.

So if Evan got upset, I
could him to the car quickly.

If I was going anywhere,
I knew how to get out,

and if I didn't know how
to get out, I wouldn't go.

And so my world
kind of closed in,

and I couldn't go anywhere
and I couldn't be a mom.

I just spent all of my time
trying to keep people safe

instead of enjoying my children.

As kindergarten started, it
didn't get better, it got worse.

And I started getting daily
reports from the teacher

that he was hitting
people, kicking people,

ripping things off
the bulletin boards.

After school time was terrible.

And I remember his first
day of kindergarten,

he hopped on the bus
excited and happy.

And when he got off the bus,

I was so excited to hear
about his first day of school

and he screamed in
my face, just Ahh!

Like from the
bottom of his soul.

And he stormed up the stairs
and stormed into his room,

and didn't come out

and you could hear him
throwing stuff around

and being angry.

And this was my tiny
little five-year-old boy

who just had a huge milestone
that I wanted to hear about,

and I didn't get
to hear about it.

And he didn't come
out for an hour.

And every day was like that.

By February of his
kindergarten year,

I called his pediatrician and
I said, something's wrong.

And our pediatrician
gave us a referral

to a neuropsychologist.

And I came in and
we had an interview,

and I told him everything
that was going on.

And I remember trying to
put it into words like,

my kid is having a hard time,

but it's not that
he had a bad day,

he's kind of having a bad life

and so we're all
having a bad life.

And he said, you know, from
what you're telling me,

he sounds consistently
inconsistent.

Yes! That's what I've
been trying to describe,

consistently inconsistent.

That's why as I've been
reading a book about ADHD,

or reading a book about anxiety
or reading a book about OCD,

it didn't make sense.

It was not that.

And so we had him do some
neuropsychological evaluation

and the doctor explained
to us, he said,

we can keep him in therapy
or we can add some medication

and see if that can help.

So we went back to
the pediatrician,

and he prescribed
some medication and
we started him on it

and we saw a blip
of improvement.

- The Center for Science
In The Public Interest

is your food and
health watchdog.

We've been around for
more than 50 years,

and we've been sort
of the major pushers

behind some of the biggest
policy wins in the food,

nutrition space in that time.

So for example,
we led the charge

on getting the nutrition
facts panel added

to food packaging,
and then thereafter

we got the added
sugar line added

to that Nutrition facts panel.

So we've been deeply invested
in improving transparency,

and safety and accountability
in the food system

in the U.S. for decades.

- My job at the Center for
Science In The Public Interest

was evaluating the
safety of additives.

Most additives are
perfectly safe,

even if they're synthetic.

And of course some natural
additives are not safe.

So of all the additives
I've evaluated,

synthetic food dyes are very
close to the top of my list

of additives that
I'm concerned about.

You might be surprised to know

that there are thousands of
chemicals that are permitted

to be added to food.

And I think most people
think that there's somebody

in the government
that's making sure

that each additive has been
well tested before it's allowed

to be added to food.

But unfortunately
that is not the case.

Many additives added to
food hardly have any data

on them at all.

That's why synthetic
food dyes are so unusual.

I can't tell you
how unusual it is

that we have 27 clinical
trials in children

on synthetic food dyes.

I can't think of any
other additive like that.

- In terms of the
clinical trials,

food dyes are like
air pollutants.

What you see is a general
effect on the population.

So kids who have no problems

with attention will move along
the spectrum a little bit,

but they're still
in normal range.

Kids who have some problems
will move along the spectrum,

perhaps into the problem range.

The same is true for lead
exposure at low levels

for certain air pollutants,

they have a general
population effect.

Some people are not
affected at all,

some people are
affected somewhat,

and then it depends on
what the baseline is,

whether that becomes
a problem for them.

- FDA has the authority
to reassess a chemical,

a food additive
whenever they want,

but they're not
obligated to do so.

So chemicals we know
are harmful stay

in our food way too long

because FDA is not proactively
reassessing chemicals.

- They don't spend, it seems
almost any time looking back

at color additives that
were approved decades ago

based on studies that
are nowhere near up

to today's standards.

Those just stay on the market.

It seems forever

until a group like Center for
Science In the Public Interest

petitions them to ban them.

- It's just so crazy how
something you don't know about

could have such a huge
effect on behavior.

Can you imagine
like all these kids

that get labeled as behavior
kids, what if it was just dye?

If I had to think back to his
life before and after dyes,

I mean, it is literally
like Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde.

I mean, it's night and
day, it's been a switch.

For me and Rex, a lot of other
things have become easier

because we took care
of this dye situation.

I decided to become a mom
through using a donor.

One of my very best
friends donated for me

to be able to have my son.

I, you know, still looking,

I'm just kidding. [chuckles]

No, so I became a single
parent on purpose.

When we started our journey,

you know, as mother and
son, kind of our two team,

I started noticing things
about him and reactions

when he was about 18 months old.

But it just took a
little bit of more time

and education before I
figured out what it was.

Looking back, our story
started when he was four,

right before pre-K.

He was at a camp,

and he had been eating this
colorful cereal every day

as a snack that was provided.

Probably three
weeks into the camp

is when I started getting
phone calls every day,

every other day that he was
running out of the building,

he was hitting other kids.

He was just exploding.

The kind of final straw
day was when I got a call

that I had to come
get him again.

So I went into the room
and he was basically manic.

I mean, he was crying and
laughing at the same time,

and I said, what's
going on? What's wrong?

He said, I don't know, mommy.

My brain is fuzzy,
my brain is fuzzy.

So I remember sitting on
the staircase with him,

and I'm crying and he's crying.

I just said, what's
going on buddy?

He's like, I don't know.

I said, why are you doing this?

He's like, I don't
know. I can't help it.

I don't know why I'm doing it.

And I said, okay, let's go home.

We're gonna figure
something out.

So I go home, get him settled

and I start Googling
sugar and behavior.

You know, he'd been having
a lot of sugar lately.

So in that Google thing,

I saw a red dye behavior
article, clicked on that,

found a YouTube
video about red dye.

And I said, okay, there's
something behind this.

Let me see what
I can figure out.

I just knew this wasn't my kid.

I knew something was wrong.

- In 1990, FDA
themselves concluded

that the color additive
red 3 causes cancer

when ingested by animals.

As an effect, they banned
the use of red 3 in cosmetics

and externally applied drugs,
but did not ban it in food

and ingested drugs.

So animals ate the red 3,

got cancer, FDA bans
it in cosmetics,

and externally applied drugs,

allows it in food
and ingested drugs.

And the reasons
why that came to be

are sort of complicated
regulatory process.

It's not because FDA somehow
thinks that it's safe

for use in food.

And in fact, FDA is actually
statutorily, legally obligated

to prohibit color and food
additives that induce cancer

when consumed by
animals or humans.

This is called the
Delaney Clause,

and it's a part of both the
Color Additive Amendment

and the Food Additive Amendment.

After the Color Additive
Amendment was passed in 1960,

all of the color additives
that were in use at the time

were basically put on
this provisional list

that allowed the continued use

while FDA sort of
vetted their safety.

Then proponents of
the color additives,

the people who make them
don't want to use them could

petition FDA and ask
them to take them off

that provisional list, make
them permanently approved.

This happened for red 3 in food

and ingested drugs in 1969.

- So when FDA originally
approved red 3,

it did so on the basis of
the studies at the time.

And we've known that it causes
cancer since the early 80's

and it was banned from
cosmetics in 1990,

but it had already been
permanently approved

for use in foods
and ingested drugs.

- So FDA decided that they
couldn't ban all uses at once

in response to the
cosmetics petition.

They said they were going to
take steps to ban it in food

and ingested drugs.

And red 3 is still
present in food and drugs.

- All right, so
coincidentally as I'm editing

the section of the film,

there's some pretty
interesting things going on.

So just last week in
the state of California,

legislature passed a
bill that would ban

the use of red 3 and three
other chemicals in food

and drinks in the state.

- California's
unprecedented bill

to ban four food
additives is now heading

to Governor Newsom's desk.

It includes red dye number
3, potassium bromate,

brominated vegetable
oil, and propyl paraben.

The chemicals have
been linked to cancer,

reproductive problems
and developmental
issues in children.

- So I know what
you're thinking,

like that's cool for California,

but what if I don't
live in California?

Well, let me put this
in perspective for you.

California is about 12%
of the U.S. population,

which gives it a pretty
significant amount

of economic influence.

It's said that if California
were a separate country,

it would rank as the fifth
largest economy in the world.

If the governor signs this ban,

manufacturers using red 3
face about three options.

Stop selling their
products in California,

which is unlikely due
to the population.

They could create two
versions of their products,

one for California and one
for the rest of the country.

Or they could change their
formula removing red 3

altogether so they
could continue

to sell their
products everywhere.

This could be the
start of something big.

- It's just like not, it's
not part of the conversation.

I would not believe my story
if I hadn't lived my story.

I'd be like, she's crazy.

I knew it was my last time being
pregnant and having a baby,

so I soaked it up.

Mercie was attached to
me, my Velcro child.

Like wanted to be in my arms,
and be held and right near me.

And so it was a very...

Just really sweet babyhood.

When she was about
two and a half,

she had, had back to
back ear infections.

We had to move to a
different type of antibiotic

that we hadn't used and our
pediatrician had warned us,

you know that a lot of times
it causes red stool in babies

and children and not to worry
like that was totally normal.

So I was like,
okay, no big deal.

If that's what she's
recommending, it must be okay.

The second day,
something just changed

and she was raging like
inconsolable, and crying

and everything was
irritating her.

And just lay down the floor
fits like, and it scared me

because I couldn't console her.

I couldn't calm her down.

So I called my doctor and
explained what was going on.

I think she thought I
was a little bit cuckoo,

and we got her off that
and her symptoms went away.

Within a day or two after
that, they improved.

But I thought it was
something unique to that.

I didn't place it at that time.

Six months later, Mercie's
behavior started to change.

She wasn't as easygoing.

She was having more fits,
having more tantrums,

melting down over things
that she hadn't before.

That went on for about
a year and a half,

and it was progressing.

And in her 4-year-old
year being verbal,

and being able to
express so much,

she would scream
that she hated us,

that she wanted to kill us,
that she wanted us to die.

In the car, she would
unbuckle her car seats

and take off her
clothes in the car

because she'd get
so mad and so hot.

It was like she was wanting
to crawl out of her skin.

Like she was so
uncomfortable in her body,

and it felt like we were
walking around eggshells

all the time.

Her sleep was insane.

She could not sleep
in the evenings,

she would be awake till two
and three, just restless.

And then she would
sleep in every morning.

So that was another part of
why it was so hard to like plan

and go places.

And we felt like we
weren't parenting right,

and we were doing
something wrong,

and all that we could do
was stay out of her way

and try to keep
her safe somehow.

It felt like whatever
was going on with her

was holding us all hostage.

And that is not a
typical tantrum.

It was something we
could not contain.

So take her to a
child psychologist.

They said she's too young,

but she had all the
markers for bipolar.

You need to bring her back
in another year or two

when she's a little bit older

and mood stabilizing medication

is gonna be your only option.

And I was so crushed and
I felt so scared for her.

I felt scared for our family.

Like I didn't know if Dustin
and I were gonna be able

to hang on and hold
us all together.

It felt so terrible
for our other kids.

It always felt like they
were getting hurt by her

in one way, verbally
or physically.

And I was so sad to think of
like, this is her whole life

and is she even
gonna make it to 18?

Is she even gonna like see 21?

I don't know, because
she feels so volatile.

- I got invited to participate
in a meta analytic study

of all the literature
on food dyes.

I was invited because of my work

on environmental risk factors
and genetic risk factors

in ADHD and how
they fit together.

And I initially agreed to
lead this review thinking

that we would debunk the, what
I viewed as an overemphasis

on things like food
dyes and so on.

And I was partly
motivated by knowing

that there are a lot of
phony claims about ADHD,

and a lot of bogus
treatments proposed.

And I was on a mission to help
debunk some of this stuff.

And so it came as a
bit of a surprise to me

when we looked at the
data and actually saw

that there actually seemed
to be an effect there

for food dyes.

If synthetic dyes are having
a small but real effect

on the population, which the
data seems to suggest they do,

that is gonna generally
lead to a slight increase

in attention problems

and hyperactivity
problems in children.

And all that follows from
that with a slight increase

in diagnoses, a slight
increase in kids

who are having
problems in school,

and associated costs of that.

So it's like any
other risk factor.

The more of these you have,
the more you slightly move

the population into a direction

where more people are actually
having clinical problems.

- So if you ask a scientist

if they think there
should be more research,

they're always gonna say yes.

It's like if I ask my partner

if he would like another
tool for his garage,

he's gonna say yes.

But the fact is, is
that we know enough now

to say we should not
be exposing children

to synthetic food dyes.

- We've been working
on this since the 70's.

There's enough
science now to show

that these shouldn't be
in any products ingested

by humans at all.

It's incredibly
frustrating to me

to see these multinational
companies based in the U.S,

mass produced products
for the European market

and other countries in the world

with natural alternatives in,

but leave the synthetic
food dye here in the U.S.

There's just genuinely no
point to having dye in there

other than to market
to us to make money.

- The three most used
dyes in the United States,

red 40, yellow 5 and yellow
6, those are all azo dyes.

And the reason you
hear about azo dyes

is because the British
government sponsored a study

of azo dyes.

- The food dye that can be a
trigger has mostly disappeared

from the food supply in Europe.

European regulators
ordered food makers

to put warning labels

on things containing
certain food dyes.

Many food companies
decided instead to remove

the synthetic dyes,
reformulating the recipes there,

but continuing to sell
the old versions here.

- [Brandon] Since the
beginning of this project,

one of the most controversial
and often misunderstood topics

has been the presence
of a warning label

or outright ban on synthetic
dyes in certain countries,

while the U.S. still
allows them to remain.

To learn more about
the why and the how,

we traveled across the
pond to London, England

to have a conversation
with Dr. Jim Stevenson.

Dr. Stevenson is a
leading researcher

whose work in Europe
has been instrumental

in shaping policy
around synthetic dyes.

- I got involved

because I thought it was an
important public health issue.

This is something
that you can act on

without particular cost.

You can take additives
out of children's diets,

and it's something
that's simple.

The rest of the influences
on children's behavior,

particularly ADHD, for
example, are complex

and are things you
can't do anything about.

Things like genetics, you're
not gonna change the genetics,

but what you can do
is to change the diet.

But what happened in the UK
was that the British government

were under some
pressure from parents

to investigate whether
dyes were having an effect

on not just children with ADHD,

but children in the
general population.

I was then working with a
pediatrician, John Warner

who was interested
in that issue.

And between us, we
applied for funds

and did one study on
the Isle of Wight,

which is a small island off
the south coast of England.

That showed some initially
encouraging results,

encouraging in the sense
that we got a positive effect

of dyes on children's behavior.

And we were then commissioned
by the UK government

to then replicate that
in what became known

as the Southampton study.

What we were doing in these
two studies was looking

at the effect of dyes

on what we call
hyperactivity in children.

Now, hyperactivity in the
way that I'm using that term

is a measure of three
aspects of behavior.

One is activity lever itself,
how much they move around.

One is impulsivity, how much
they respond immediately

to actions without thinking.

And the other is inattention,

whether they can remain on task.

Quite large samples.

On the Isle of Wight, about 250.

And in Southampton, two
samples of about 150.

We took those children
from ordinary schools,

and then got their parents to
put them on a dye free diet

for a week.

We then gave them a drink,
which we had constructed,

which either had the
dyes in or didn't.

And if it didn't
have the dyes in,

it was just ordinary
fruit juice.

We then monitored their behavior
in a number of settings.

One was in the school.

We also got the parents to
rate their children's behavior

and their teachers to
rate their behavior.

We also, with the
older children,

sent them a computer-based task

that measured things
like attention.

What we found was that
when they were on the dyes,

their scores on
the hyperactivity
measure were elevated

compared to the time when
they're on the placebo.

At the time, the UK was
part of the European Union.

The European government decided

that on the basis of our
work, that there was evidence

that there was an adverse
effect on children's behavior,

and they required manufacturers
to put a warning label

on the foods to that effect.

What of course happened
was that the manufacturers

didn't like having
their foods labeled,

so they decided to take the
things out the foods themselves.

The important thing
about the work

that we did was that it's called
a randomized control trial.

Now that is the gold standard
for demonstrating causality

in this kind of world.

It is us manipulating
experimentally

what the child's being exposed
to at a particular time,

and we're demonstrating
an adverse change

in the child's behavior.

To explain the kind of
effects we're seeing,

not all children
respond to dyes.

Some children respond more,
some children respond less.

So it's a small change on
average for the population,

but it's one that has some
long-term consequences.

- [Brandon] With all of the data

and scientific evidence
underscoring the
potential hazards

of synthetic dyes, it's
only logical to expect

that some of the major
players would step up

and remove these chemicals.

It's a seemingly
straightforward move,

eliminate a
potential health risk

and demonstrate genuine concern

for your consumer's well-being.

A win-win scenario, right?

Well, as it turns out,
a couple actually tried,

well, kind of.

In 2015, General Mills
announced with great fanfare

their commitment to rid their
product of synthetic dyes,

a quest for healthier,
more natural ingredients.

A year later, Mars Incorporated
made a similar commitment

following a viral
petition on Change.org,

asking the company to
take dyes out of M&Ms.

- We did a petition
on Change.org,

which was incredibly successful.

We were fortunate enough to
get over 200,000 signatures,

which is what prompted M&Ms
and Mars to contact me.

And they explained

that they were going
to take out the dyes,

it was gonna take a while
and they invited my son

to be the first one
to go to the factory

as soon as they had
made the change.

So my son was so excited,

and it was really
exciting stuff.

- [Brandon] However, as the
projected timelines approached,

each company performed a
U-turn on their commitments,

blaming the lack
of consumer demand.

The iconic General Mills cereal
Trix actually did eliminate

dyes for a brief moment.

But after a public
outcry of criticism,

accusing them of tarnishing
childhood memories,

the neon hues promptly returned.

- We really thought we won,

and I was so sad that it just
didn't end up working out.

- It's easy to pick
on those two, right?

Because those are very
public examples of companies

that have talked about
this and promised,

or did something about it
and then broke that promise.

But there are many,
many, many companies

who've been silent on the issue,

and still use food
dyes with impunity.

So I want to point the finger
at the entire food industry,

not just a couple of
people who have at least

at some point tried or
said they were gonna try

and do something, even if
they didn't end up doing that.

- [Brandon] So why didn't
we as consumers rally

to ditch these dyes?

Was there a crucial piece
missing from the puzzle?

Was there ever any mention
of the potential dangers

of these additives?

Or was it just presented
as a more natural option?

Without knowledge of
potential health risk,

why would we want
to eliminate them?

But armed with that information,

would the outcome
have been different?

Would people still prefer the
vibrant colors of the past?

With these questions in mind,

we conducted a small
experiment with friends

and family to gauge how
this knowledge would impact

their consumer preferences.

Do any of you practice
a dye free diet?

- No, I...

Honestly, this is the first
time I've ever thought about it

until maybe five minutes ago.

- No.
- No.

- We do limit dyes, but we
are not completely dye free.

- We buy food that tastes
good based on price and taste.

- And calories.

- [Brandon] There's
a lot of companies

that claim there is not
enough public demand

to justify replacing synthetic
dyes in their products

with a more natural option.

So we'll be doing
some blind taste test,

some visual comparisons,

all to see how these dyes play
a role in your preferences.

Y'all ready to go?

- Okay.
- Okay.

- [Brandon] Alright, let's
put on our blindfolds.

- Okay.

- [Brandon] Go ahead and
pick up the one on your right

and give it a taste.

- Ah.

- Hmm.

- [Brandon] Taste
like childhood?

- Mhm-hmm.

- [Brandon] If you think the
one on your left was dye free,

raise your hand.

- Oh, I'm a little...

I'm going counterintuitive.

- Yeah, so I wanna
say left has dye,

and the right does not.

- I'm gonna say the same.

Left has dye.

- This is gonna be
the dye free one.

This has dye in it.

- There's not much of a
taste difference to me.

- [Brandon] So which
one would you say

is the dye-free version?

- This one.

- [Brandon] All right, go ahead

and remove your blindfolds.

- Okay.
- Oh.

Wrong!

- Oh, wow.
- Whoa. No way.

- Dude.

- They should start
selling these anyway.

Those are better.

- [Brandon] We
continued this process

with a number of
different products.

Some of them were the same
brand from different countries.

Others were a name brand
compared to a generic brand.

One with dyes,

one without.

Sometimes they guessed right.

You all got that one right.

- Whoa.
- Okay.

- [Brandon] And many times
they're pretty surprised.

- They look the same to me.

- [Brandon] As they compared
the taste and appearance

of a variety of
different dyed foods next

to their dye-free counterparts,

we shared with them some of
the information we've learned

while creating this film.

- These dyes are used to
brighten the appearance

of our food, but are purely
cosmetic and are associated

with a number of risks.

- [Brandon] And we concluded
by asking the question,

do you think this information
could have an impact

on consumer behavior?

- I do think that if the
population was educated

on these studies that have
been done on the effects

of these synthetic dyes, I
think that would outweigh

the need to just have something
beautiful on my plate.

- When you buy cigarettes
or you buy alcohol,

there's warning labels,
can cause cancer, you know.

I don't understand why
there's adult consumption

warning labels and not kid
consumption warning lables.

- I don't know.

I mean, I'm not...

Honestly, I'm not
the kind of person

who thinks heavily about
what I eat. [chuckles]

For better or for worse.

But I mean, like, just
from a cost risk analysis,

like I don't understand
why companies

would be so adamant.
- Concerned.

- About keeping
these ingredients,

and I really don't think
it pushes the needle.

- So one of the questions
is, whose area is this?

Should this be Nationals
Institute of Mental Health?

Should this be EPA? Is it FDA?

My hunch is that
different agencies

aren't sure this is in
their wheelhouse to fund.

It's a big gap. I think we
should be funding more studies

of food dyes, food additives,
and diet in general.

There's substantial evidence now

that there's something going
on with food, nutrients,

vitamins and minerals,
as well as additives

that affects brain development
that can affect ADHD,

and other mental
health conditions.

And personally, I would advocate

that we significantly
invest in this area.

- I think the most important,
you know, new development

in the dyes research space
was the report that came out

in 2021 from the
California Office

of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment, or OEHHA.

- It's a group of, you know,
highly trained physicians,

toxicologists,
epidemiologists, statisticians.

And their job is just
to look at the science.

They don't get into politics,
they don't get into economics,

they just look at the science.

And their job is to assess
the health risks of chemicals.

- They conducted
what I would consider

to be the most thorough review
of this literature ever done.

Really the best
resource we have on

what we know about food dyes
and their effects on behavior,

and brain development.

- Randomized double-blind
clinical trials

are the gold standard
for showing a cause

and effect relationship.

We've got 27 of those.

Each study by itself might be
small, it might have a flaw,

but when you combine
them together, they
get very powerful.

- 27 human clinical
trials, animal evidence,

and in vitro
mechanistic evidence,

so they really got all of it.

And this was a
multi-year long process

that involved public
input and expert panels,

and peer review.

And this culminated in the
publication of this 2021 report,

which concluded that
synthetic food dyes can cause,

or exacerbate neurobehavioral
problems in some children.

- There's a state senator in
California, Senator Wieckowski,

and he authored two bills,
both of which were aimed

at requiring a warning
label on dyed foods.

If California had a warning
label on dyed foods,

that would have implications
across the country.

You know, if you're a company,

you don't wanna put a warning
label on your product,

you'd rather reformulate it
to avoid the warning label.

If you have to reformulate
your product for California,

you might as well
reformulate it for everybody.

So the first bill, it's
passed the health committee,

but it ended up being defeated.

There was tremendous industry
opposition to the bill

as you could well imagine.

After the first bill failed,
he was able to obtain funding

for the state of California
for this OEHHA Office

to conduct the assessment.

So it's thanks to
Senator Wieckowski

that we have this fabulous
scientific assessment

on the effects of dyes.

- What's the cliche
that people say,

you may lose the battle,
but you win the war.

And I think
legislation is that way

where you introduce an idea,

and then people start
talking about it.

The enthusiasm and the
excitement that has been created

by this report that OEHHA
has produced for scientists,

and academicians all around
the world has really helped

that snowball and drawn
some attention to this area

of public policy.

It's funny, people are binary.

You had a successful bill,
you had an unsuccessful bill.

So I have a unsuccessful
bill, but what the bill wanted

was the California
Department of Public Health

to promulgate
regulations for foods

that contain synthetic dyes.

Didn't work out,
didn't get done,

but I've learned to be
tenacious and to keep pushing.

And my chief of staff, Derek
Chernow, very clever guy,

he said, you're the chair
of the budget subcommittee

and you have control over OEHHA,

why don't you put the
money in the budget?

So very quietly in 2017,

California's budget
had a allocation

for the Office of
Environmental Hazards

to go and do the study.

So I lost the bill,
but won the battle.

- I think the biggest
message I wanna get out there

to other families of color
and other single families

is that going dye free is
not an income level thing.

And it's not a crunchy yoga
mom, rich people problem.

It is a neurological reaction.

Your brain has no color, your
brain has no income level.

Just try it.

It does require some diligence,

and it does require some action.

But if you do it and you see
a difference, can you imagine

how much better you and
your child's life would be?

So I went on this group
I'm on in Facebook

that's like these awesome
moms that work in colleges,

and I said, has anyone ever
heard of red dye behavior?

And immediately had
like 40 responses.

Yes, my brother, yes,
I've heard of this,

my neighbor's kid has this.

And I was like, oh my gosh,
there's something here.

So that day I went through
our pantry, our refrigerator,

cleared everything out I could
find that had red dye in it.

So then it got a little
bit better for two days,

and then it happened again.

I was like, I don't
know what's going on.

I got rid of everything.

And so by this point I had
joined the dye-free group.

So I was asking in there,

and they're like, oh, you need
to look at these other dyes,

yellow and blues.

You know, check your freezer.

Have you looked at toothpaste?

I was like, toothpaste, what?

So I go in there, lo and behold,

his toothpaste has dye in it.

I was like, okay, get
rid of the toothpaste.

Finally though, after
I'd say a month,

I think we got rid of like
pretty much everything with red,

blue, and yellow dye in it.

And three years later we are,

I mean I'd say we're
a 100% dye-free.

But it has been a journey.

It has been a journey.

There's a lot of other
little, you know,

if you're looking at a timeline,
it's not just here to here.

There's a lot of peaks and
ups and downs in that journey.

But since then, it's
been so much better.

You know, everyone, his
teachers like him more,

you know, getting along better
more with kids at school.

He's got a couple
of little things

that have happened
more due to anxiety.

Not due to dye, but taking
the dye away has taken

the behavior away.

Now it's more of just
trying to figure out,

you know, what's going on here?

But I can't imagine the ADHD
anxiety going on plus the dye.

I can't even, like,
I can't imagine

what our life would be like.

- Industry clearly has
a dog in this fight.

They use these food dyes to
make their food look good,

so you buy it, right?

So they stand to lose money,

if people stop
buying their products

or I think...

And their greatest fear
is if they're banned,

they definitely don't want
warning labels on their food

because that gives
consumers the impression,

the right impression that
there are chemicals in them

that can cause harm.

And then in the case of red 3,

FDA itself said
it causes cancer.

So there's really
no excuse, right?

But it's in their interest
in terms of profit, right?

In terms of their bottom line

to not have to reformulate
their products.

- You have no idea how much
opposition there is to the idea

of a warning label
on dyed foods.

There is so much industry
opposition to this notion.

They are out there lobbying,
saying that dyes are safe,

saying it would be too costly
to require a warning label.

They're opposed to
giving consumers

the information they need
to protect their families.

- This is a multi-billion
dollar food industry,

folks that are making a lot
of money having these dyes

in their products.

You know, as soon as
the bill was introduced,

I had everybody and their uncle

from the restaurant association,
the confectionary folks,

the chemical companies saying,

you could run us outta business.

This is gonna have an
adverse effect on us.

And you know, you have to say,

okay, everybody take
a big deep breath.

This is not new. You
knew of the bill in 2017.

This is now four years later.

At the end of the day,
all we're trying to do

is we're not trying to put
anybody outta business,

we just wanna inform the public

of what are you digesting here.

- Ultimately, FDA
has final authority.

They bear the ultimate
responsibility,

but that doesn't
absolve the companies

from the responsibility to
protect their customers.

- Any change you wanna make?

Oh no. You know, too costly.

All the science is bad.

Those scientists are crazy.

- [Interviewer] But
at what human cost?

- At what human
cost, right? Right.

- What we know is
that in Europe,

any harm to health
is paid for by taxes,

and by the government and
the people as a whole.

Whereas here in the
U.S. there's no benefit

to the government in
preventing health issues

because they are not
gonna pay the cost.

Just because we have
regulatory authorities

does not make these
products safe.

- Are synthetic dyes

the only issue in our food
system? Absolutely not.

But eliminating synthetic dyes

has dramatically
impacted our lives.

And we think it's just a
really great place to start.

It's a good
conversation to be had.

And we believe that it could
impact millions of lives.

- It sounds crazy that
we have to say use food

to make food, but we're not.

We're using artificial
things to make food.

So companies use synthetic
dyes for two reasons.

One, for cost.

It's so much cheaper just
to use the synthetic dyes.

Second thing is time.

It's really hard actually

to create a product
using real food

that will always taste the
same and always look the same

because every batch
of strawberries

is going to look different.

But we know in Europe they
have higher standards,

and so a lot of companies
will have their U.S. version

or their recipe of the product

and their version
that they use in EU.

And the problem is the EU
one costs them more money

to make for Europe.

And so if they can get away

with making the
American version,

they're going to do that
purely for their profits.

One of the reasons I
actually started my company

is because I had
so many neighbors,
extended family members,

community members struggling
with ADHD, migraines,

depression, anxiety,
autoimmune issues.

And you can't just
go ask somebody,

hey, can I come cook for you?

And so I was like, how do I
teach all these people around me

that are struggling?

And so I thought, you know what?

If I just start a
little Instagram account

and teach like a daily tip,
and an easy tip of things

that people can
do in their homes,

maybe then these people
will start feeling better.

Because a lot of people
think that you need

to have this huge new like
kale and sardine diet,

and that is truly
not the case at all.

You can still have the mac
and cheese and the hamburgers

and the waffles and things,

but let's make them with
real food ingredients

that are actually going
to nourish the body

and take care of the body.

Diet actually plays a huge
role in mental health.

People out there are spending
thousands and thousands

of dollars on prescriptions
or medical bills,

or therapy or all
different things,

which sometimes are
needed, don't get me wrong.

But at the same time, a lot
of that could just be fixed

with the knowledge
about our food.

- We tried behavioral
intervention

and behavioral training for
three years. Three years.

And I look back and I feel
terrible not recognizing

that it was something that
he absolutely cannot control.

Being a psychologist,

we tried every
psychological angle first.

In a way, it's a
double-edged sword.

If I wasn't a psychologist,

I probably would have not
done all of the things,

and maybe we would've figured
it out earlier 'cause yeah,

I blamed his behaviors on
us, on him when it wasn't.

So we pulled yellow,
we pulled green,

we went through the entire
house, we gutted everything.

And it was cold
turkey from that day.

And it was like watching a drug
addict coming off of drugs.

The emotional toll that
it causes these kids,

it's just heartbreaking
to watch them suffer.

But he calmed down.

His mind stopped racing
and he could focus.

The begging to die was
gone within days, days

to never come back.

Emotionally, he was
still kind of a wreck

because he had those years
where he didn't learn a lot.

There wasn't a lot of
emotional development

because he was high.

It's like the way that
we kind of explain it

was he was high for years.

It took about probably
six months for him

to catch up with that.

But then school wasn't
a problem anymore,

and making friends
wasn't a problem anymore.

We removed the dyes, man he's
the easiest kid to parent.

He went from eighth
grade to college.

He tested into English 101,

he skipped four years
of high school English.

He just turned 17.

He'll be graduating with
his associate of business

and his associate of science,

and then moving on to
a bachelor's degree.

He's doing fantastic.

He works on campus,
everyone loves him.

He's a great kid.

His whole problem
were dyes. That's it.

He doesn't have ADHD,

he doesn't have any
other neurological
behavioral problems.

It's just the dyes.

- It's like those night
thoughts when it's late at night

and you're just laying in
your bed staring at nothing,

and you have nothing
to think about.

It's those intrusive
thoughts like,

hey, are you sure
you're on the life path

you wanna be on right now?

And it's those little pecks

that normally you just brush off

and you don't think about.

When you're on dyes, they get
loud, they get to be like,

hey, are you sure you want
to be alive right now?

And it gets really
hard to not listen.

Whenever I do an interview or
I talk to you lovely people,

my end goal is to at
least talk to one kid.

If that's one kid that's
not on anti-psychotics,

or one kid that's not
on some list somewhere

because he or she had
a violent outburst

where they hurt another kid,

I want to get to at least
one of them just to be like,

hey, here's an option.

Knowing that there are kids
my age or even younger,

or older that have a
sensitivity to dyes like me

and they don't know it yet,
I definitely can't imagine

what it would be like
to go through a breakup

or something that, you
know, it would hurt

and you're like, oh, I
think my life is ending.

And thinking that and
be like, this sucks.

But not having the
self-control and the cognition

because of dyes to say to
yourself, well it's temporary.

I'll get over this.

I have a whole life
ahead of me. I am 15.

I can't imagine what it
would be like to be like,

no, my life's done now.

There's no going
forward from here.

I definitely do
not enjoy the fact

that there are some
kids who think that.

And there are, of course,
there's other reasons.

There is of course
mental illness

and I'm not writing that off.

That will and forever
always be present.

But the one thing I
wanna try to avoid

is unnecessary
instances of kids who

just think I'm done. This is it.

All because of some
little ingredient

to make your food
brightly colored.

- In September, 2020,

we were expecting a
new baby, fourth child.

Just a few weeks before
our baby was born,

my husband was
talking to his sister,

she suggested a Ted
Talk about the effect

of food dyes on children.

So my husband sent me a
text with that link to it,

and I kind of rolled
my eyes and I thought,

that just sounds stupid

because it's food coloring.

Like it's in everything. Why?

Why would this be a problem?

It's just a color.

And my husband said, no, no,
you should watch this video.

And I said, whatever.

That's okay, fine.

- I had a friend post
something on Facebook

that resonated with me.

The title of the video
like caught my attention.

I'm like, I don't
know what this is,

but I trust my
friend who posted it.

She shares a lot of
same viewpoints as me.

I'm gonna watch this video.

And I watched it like
jaw on the floor,

resonated so much, Rebecca's
story of what was happening,

and what she was experiencing

and how removing dyes
instantly remove different

behaviors and different
things they were experiencing.

- So I popped in my
headphones, and I listened

to this video while I was
making dinner that night.

And there were things that
kept coming up that wait, what?

Oh my gosh, she's
just described Evan.

And the ah-ha moment was
when the presenter said,

my kid doesn't always have ADHD.

- I was shocked.

His preschool never
said anything like that.

I mean, yes, he was
interested in a lot of things

and yes, he was
enthusiastic but ADHD?

And why did it seem like he
only had ADHD on some days?

- And I remember
thinking her kid

is consistently inconsistent.

My kid is not always a bad kid.

Sometimes he's delightful.

And I thought, I'm desperate.

I have no other
options at this point.

So I started doing
a little research,

and reading labels
and pulling stuff out

and making a pile
that he could eat

and a pile that he couldn't eat

and we just started.

We didn't see
immediate improvement,

but we'd made all these
changes getting rid of things

in our pantry, so we
just continued with it

and it took us several
weeks and then boom,

our world changed.

- [Brandon] So we saw an
article where the FDA says,

"If you're worried about
dyes, then just read labels."

But I mean, what
if you don't know?

- [Whitney] That's crazy, right?

- Right. Yes, you can look
at the ingredient label

and find these dyes
in the ingredient list

if you know what
you're looking for

and if you know you
need to look for them.

Consumers might have this idea

that they can
identify foods on site

that contain these dyes.

They think, oh, if
it's brightly colored,

if it's a bright
red sports drink,

then I know it's dyed.

And you're probably right,

but they're not just in these
conspicuously colored foods.

Recently we looked
at a food label

and found red 3 in a
mashed potato product.

It's like, you know why
first of all is that there?

But it's not just these
brightly colored vibrant foods,

it's kind of
permeated everything.

- I think the thing is that
a lot of people don't know.

And so you can argue we
should just let people make

their own choices.

But a lot of people aren't armed
enough with the information

to be able to do that.

And these things are so
pervasive it's almost impossible

to avoid them.

Even if you know
what to look for.

- People aren't always
able to study or understand

the list of 30 or 40 ingredients
in some of these foods.

So that's where the wording
label saves a tremendous burden

on the population of having
to police their own food.

That's part of why I
think it's sensible.

- I think it's especially
alarming how many products

that are marketed to
children contain these dyes

because that's who we're
talking about is impacted

in terms of neuro behavior.

We're talking about children.

People generally,
probably don't know

that this is a problem.

And so a warning label would
essentially solve that problem,

make it more apparent to
consumers that these dyes

are present in their food.

And also let them know that
maybe this is something

that they should be aware
of and avoid if their child

is being impacted.

- Why would you not
let a parent know

to try to avoid these foods,

or industry, take those
additives out of the food

and nobody has to
avoid anything.

- One of my driving motivators
for creating this film

is my experience as a teacher.

I used to teach in a
high poverty school,

and so there were
a lot of families

that were just in
absolute survival mode.

And for many families
in this circumstance,

chemicals like synthetic dyes
or even reading labels at all

is just like not on their radar.

So for the FDA to
just say avoid them,

it's just really
missing the mark.

And in my opinion, it's
kind of an unfair statement.

- I wrote a thesis for
my education law class,

and I was looking
specifically at foods

that are provided by the free
and reduced lunch program

and breakfast program
and the potential harms

that are coming from those foods

that could be causing
behavioral issues,

could be causing
misclassification for special ed

and different issues like that.

I was really interested in this

because there are a lot of
conversations and papers

that have been written
about why students

from low income areas are
disproportionately represented

in special education and
disproportionately represented

in disciplinary behavior and
even expulsion from school.

And when the numbers
don't line up,

there's a reason behind that,
there's something going on.

So when I was researching
potentially the cause

of these behaviors and
especially low income schools,

I was shocked to see
the amount of food

that contains artificial
food coloring,

thousands of foods that
schools can choose from

to serve for breakfast or lunch
that are completely covered

by the government programs.

To suggest that parents

or students should
just avoid food dyes

if they don't want
to consume them,

that's not always an
option for some students

because especially
students who qualify

for free and reduced
lunch or breakfast,

that's typically about 70
to 80% of the nutrients

that they're gonna
consume all day long.

And so to put a restriction
on those students to say,

don't choose that, that's not
something that they can do.

And then on top of that,

school lunches don't come with
a label on the back of it.

So students don't know
if there's food dye.

We see it time and time
again from all the studies

that artificial food dyes
have a very negative effect

on children's behavior.

And when schools are
feeding children breakfast

with food dyes in them,
lunches with food dye in them,

snacks with food dye in them
it's something to think about

that there may be a link
between their behavior

and what they're eating.

- [Brandon] So let's
say you've removed dyes

from your household,

you've mastered the
grocery store shuffle

and you're one of the lucky
ones whose school is on board.

There's still the issue of
prescription medications.

For many families, these
medications are non-negotiable.

They're vital, even lifesaving.

Take ADHD medication
for example,

they're often brightly colored,

which for kids sensitive
to dyes can spell trouble.

It's a tough pill to
swallow, pun intended

for families
striving to minimize

the impact of these additives.

- Finding over the counter
drugs has not been a challenge

because those do
come in dye free.

Ironically, the
bigger box stores,

the cheaper ones are the
ones that are dye free,

which has been amazing.

So finding those
has not been hard.

But when he gets prescription
medication, antibiotics,

ironically, ADHD medications
are almost all colored.

And so that's been
the hardest part.

So I've got a really
good relationship

with the compound pharmacy
right down the street.

If we can't find the
medication dye free,

I have to call them and have
them make the medication,

which is of course
more expensive.

I am a single parent, so
affording that has been tough.

I, you know, I worked
my insurance to be able

to have some help
on that part of it.

But that's exhausting.
It is exhausting.

Especially when you need
immediate things, right?

So he had strep throat,
and I needed an antibiotic.

Well the only antibiotic
they had was dyed,

so then I had to call
the place over here.

Did they have a dye free
option? No, they don't.

Okay, we gotta go back here.

We gotta call the
pharmacist or the doctor

'cause the doctor's gotta
call the prescription in.

I mean it's exhausting.

An ADHD medication
is actually one

that's interestingly
has dyes in it,

which exasperates the symptoms

and it just kind of
levels in each other.

And so example we just had
was a medication he needed,

we wanted to go up from
one milligram to two,

well the two milligram
has dye in it,

but the one milligram doesn't.

And so they wouldn't give him
two one milligram medications

until we got special approval

because they thought we were
trying to get more medication.

It took a week of back
and forth with the doctor

and the pharmacy to be
able to get approval

to have two one milligrams
instead of one two milligram

because of the dye.

And now I just keep
thinking as he gets older,

how are we gonna
do this, you know.

It's frustrating that they
just can't figure out a way

to dye medication with
non-synthetic dyes.

And I understand you
have to color medication

maybe differently, but
there's so many things

you can color medication with

that you don't have
to use dye for.

And so I just feel like
if food can figure it out,

medicine should
better figure it out.

[gentle music]

- For sure, the first 24 to 48
hours we were missing things,

I know, but we removed a ton

and it was like someone
had let out some air.

You could just feel the
pressure like in her,

and in all of us decreasing,
we were just so amazed

and confused and happy.

And also thinking like any
second, it's all gonna change.

Like this can't last,

and this can't have
any sort of connection.

And the days and the
weeks that followed,

we really like went
through everything at home

and found dyes in marshmallows,

and I'm like,
they're not colorful,

why would there be an
artificial dye in that?

All the things that we looked
on and pulling everything out

and reading everything and
making changes in our bathroom,

and our medicine
cabinet, everything.

She like stabilized and
she went from being sad

and angry all the time to
like smiling and peaceful.

Like I hadn't seen her be
that way since she was a baby.

Like where things wouldn't set
her off, and she was loving

and affectionate and smiling
and she could just be calm

and she started
sleeping like normally,

like being tired in the
evening and being able

to wake up in the
morning and be happy.

And I know we all like
tiptoed around her

like we had been thinking
this is gonna set her off.

And I remember with the other
kids looking at them like,

you don't have to be
scared of Mercie anymore.

And like what a heartbreaking
thing that was to say to them

and how much it helped
me realize how bad it was

that I'm telling them like,
you don't have to be afraid

of making her mad,
like she can handle it.

And so now it's been five years,
almost six years since then

and she is healthy and
happy, and spunky and sassy.

She is not without her
character and her spunk,

but she is a whole healthy
child all because of removing

the artificial dyes.

- So I had my baby at
the beginning of October,

and everything was chaos.

I wasn't sleeping, I had a
new baby, I had four kids,

I was trying to figure
out how to live life.

And Halloween that year
was on Saturday night.

And so I had been
bracing myself all month,

we can do this.

Sunday's gonna be
terrible, we'll be okay.

So we went trick or
treating, we stayed out late.

We went through Evan's candy,

and he had very
carefully read the labels

and so we had a dye
pile and a not dye pile

and he just ate from
the not dye pile.

And I went, well
that's a lot of sugar

and it's gonna be
a mess anyways.

Our family, we go to
church every Sunday

and church was at 9:00 a.m.

that Sunday morning
right after Halloween.

And that was what
I'd been dreading.

I was going to have
to get four kids

including a newborn
ready for church,

hung over on Halloween
candy and staying up late.

And I had my baby on the floor

as I was putting on her
little tights and her dress.

And Evan walked in and he
didn't have his shoes on,

and I braced myself
and I said, Evan,

I need you to get your shoes on.

And he looked up at me
and he said, okay mom.

And in that moment

I knew,

I knew it was the food dyes.

That's something he
would've reacted poorly to.

On a regular day when
he'd been well rested

and wasn't full of candy, he
would have exploded at that.

But that day with so
many things going on,

he said, okay mom
and put his shoes on.

And we got to church
10 minutes early.

After church when we got home

and we were just
talking about our day,

I said,

I think the food dyes worked.

I think we've turned a corner.

And we kept seeing improvements,

and I realized how many
experiences that I had missed

and I remember realizing what
a dramatic change we've seen

and that something had
switched in his brain.

He'd gone from violent,
incredible hulk

nuclear level meltdowns to
a super sweet little boy

who'd been hiding
there all that time.

Come here buddy.

I love you.

- [Brandon] The stories
and the science shared

in this film demand more
than just passive awareness.

They beckon for change.

And though the film may
end when the credits roll,

we are now standing at the
crossroads of awareness

and action asking, what's next?

- Most companies are not
going to get rid of dyes

unless something
forces them to do so.

They're not gonna just do it

because it's the
right thing to do.

So that's why a documentary
like yours is so important.

We need to get the
message out there

and put pressure on companies.

It's only consumer pressure,

or policy changes like
warning labels or better yet,

get these dyes banned that
will make them stop using them.

- [Brandon] So with
that being said,

it looks like it's up
to us, the consumer.

The natural first
step is removing dyes
from your household.

Learning how to read
labels and avoid dyes

is by far the best way to remove

or limit dyes for
you and your family.

- So when you're
reading a label,

the artificial dyes
have to be on the label.

There is actually lots
of other ingredients

that can be hidden.

You can hide a whole
slew of ingredients

under the term natural flavors,

but with artificial dyes
you do have to list them.

So you will see the blue 1,
the red 40, the yellow 5,

the yellow 6 listed
on the label.

- It seems overwhelming
but when you get into it,

just like most things,

it's not as hard as you
think it's gonna be.

You just have to be
more cognizant of
what you're getting,

and reading all the labels.

But it's everyday advocacy of
like him and what he can have

and what he can't have and
explaining and talking,

and answering questions
and those kind of things.

- How do you tell if a child
has a food dye sensitivity?

You remove it from their food,

you feed them foods
that are dye free

and you watch 'em for two weeks

and you will know.

If you see a behavior
change, you know.

So no risk in removing them,
but everything to gain.

- [Brandon] Secondly, spread
the word, tell your story.

- It is so simple in
practice like yeah,

it can feel
overwhelming at first,

but the reality is to be
able to give that information

to families that feel
like they are drowning,

and they are stuck and
they're hopeless is huge.

I had people, after I
shared my story on Facebook,

strangers and friends
reach out to me

talk about their grown children.

They're like, you just
described my entire,

my entire raising of my child.

So when I'm sad that
like it was two years

of literally hell on
earth in our family,

it also was only two years

and like we have so many
healthy years beyond that,

I'm just super grateful.

- [Brandon] Get involved
with your school systems,

and help educate the
boards and decision makers.

Education is key because
like Thomas said.

- People generally
probably don't know

that this is a problem.

- There are federal laws
that require any schools

who are recipients of the
free and reduced lunch program

or breakfast programs, the
board of ed has to have a policy

that has to encompass
student wellness.

It has to address obesity,

different health issues
within the school

and for the students.

Within that policy,
parents can demand

that artificial food
dyes are addressed.

There's education
surrounding it.

You can start at
the local level.

- [Brandon] If we really
wanna make an impact,

we're gonna need to
make some racket.

If companies are citing
lack of public demand,

then let's demand it.

Reach out to
companies and brands,

and let them know you aren't
happy with these chemicals

and write your politicians.

We are currently witnessing
a handful of states

make a stand against food
dyes and other chemicals.

Let your state legislators know

that your state wants
those changes to you.

- Policymakers,
either personally or
through their staff

read the correspondence
that people send to them.

Until things get hot, you
don't change behaviors.

And every legislature,

whether it's the
United States Congress

or the state legislators,
listen to the public.

So if the public comes in and
says, why would we protect

the kids in California
and not protect our kids?

What's wrong? I mean,
you represent me

and you can
articulate your desire

to have change in many ways.

You don't hear from people,
you might not do anything.

You hear from a
couple of people,

eh, you know I can
take a little heat.

You get a lot of folks that
galvanize a clear message

of we want change now.

Then you start having change.

- [Brandon] Together, we have
the power to drive change.

It starts with us
and it starts now.

We are a force to be reckoned
with and your voice matters.

So let's make it heard.

- [All] We did it!

- I can't believe we
actually made a documentary.

- Me too!

- Me too!

- [Brandon] This has been
the adventure of a lifetime.

- [Whitney] And we couldn't
have done it without the support

of our community.

- Where can people go
to get more information

and learn how to get involved?

- Todyeforthedocumentary.
- ...com.

- Good job.

Click on the resources tab

where you can find our
30 Day Dye-Free Challenge

as well as templates for
writing decision makers.

Even though the film's over,

this is really
just the beginning.

- And we can't wait to see
what we can do together.

- What do we say guys?

- [All] That's a wrap!

♪ I'm counting my blessings
too many to remember ♪

♪ I'm singing your praises

♪ Each and everyday I live
my life in surrender ♪

♪ I'm counting my blessings
from January to December ♪

♪ Gotta keep up with all of
His goodness and wonder ♪

♪ Every day I make the
choice to remember ♪

♪ I'm counting my blessings

♪ I'm counting my blessings

♪ You never fail to
remind me I'm enough ♪

♪ I look around and see all
the things you've done ♪

♪ Then you fill me with your
peace and perfect love ♪

♪ You tell me you're
working it all for my good ♪

♪ Making a way when I
didn't think you could ♪

♪ I'm counting my blessings
too many to remember ♪

♪ I'm singing your praises

♪ Each and every day I
live my life in surrender ♪

♪ I'm counting my blessings
from January to December ♪

♪ Gotta keep up with all of
His goodness and wonder ♪

♪ Every day I make the
choice to remember ♪

♪ I'm counting my blessings

♪ I'm counting my blessings

♪ Name them one by one

♪ See what God has done

♪ So much to be thankful for

♪ So much to be grateful for

♪ Name them one by one

♪ See what God has done

♪ So much to be thankful for

♪ I'm counting my blessing
too many to remember ♪

♪ I'm singing your praises

♪ Each and every day I
live my life in surrender ♪

♪ I'm counting my blessings
from January to December ♪

♪ Gotta keep up with all of
His goodness and wonder ♪

♪ Every day I make the
choice to remember ♪

♪ I'm counting my blessings

♪ I'm counting my blessings

[no audio]