The Hill News

Federal regulatory agencies don’t turn on dime. The Food and Drug Administration in particular isn’t terribly nimble (to wit: it took the FDA a decade to require trans fat just to be listed on food labels, and it still hasn’t imposed a well-deserved ban).

So when the FDA last month convened an advisory committee meeting to evaluate the evidence linking Red 40, Yellow 5, and other artificial food dyes to behavioral problems in children, no one expected the committee to recommend a ban. In fact, the question of a ban wasn’t even before the committee. But the FDA itself, in an important shift, finally is acknowledging that synthetic dyes â€" which give many cereals, yogurts, candies, and other foods their neon colors â€" do impair at least some children’s behavior.

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