Posted on by

Why Do Fruit Snacks Use Artificial Colors?

19 Replies

Another week, another fruit snack exposed. Last week we talked about fruit leathers. Today, Welch’s.

Looking at the front of the package, you have to admire the marketing effort that went into its construction:

Brand name is the most prominent, followed by “Fruit Snacks”.

A “Made with Real Fruit” seal appears with pics of tropical fruit. As if there is such a thing as fake fruit.

A little checklist promises:

* 100% vitamin C (it comes from added ascorbic acid, not from the fruit)

* 25% Vitamin A&E (also added as ingredients)

* Fat Free (most fruit has no fat, so this is pretty obvious)

* Gluten Free (same)

* No Preservatives (an outright lie as Citric Acid and Sodium Citrate are preservatives. Not that they are harmful in any way, but they do help extend the product shelf life)

Another really irritating trick by Welch’s is the use of a tiny and almost colorless font for the wording “Natural and Artificial Flavors” just before the words “Fruit Snacks.” The FDA requires manufacturers to label if a food has added flavors, but since the government agency did not specify font type, the manufacturer does its best to obfuscate the fact that the fruit snack needed a little flavor boost from the lab.

But if you think the little marketing tricks on the front of pack are irritating, wait til you see the ingredient list.

What you need to know:

Here is the ingredient list:

Juice Concentrates (Grape, Pear, peach, passionfruit, And Pineapple), Corn Syrup, Sugar, Modified Corn Starch, Fruit Puree (banana, mango, pineapple, kiwi), Gelatin, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Alpha Tocopherol Acetate, Vitamin A palmitate, Sodium Citrate, Coconut Oil, Carnauba Wax, Red #40, Yellow #5, Blue #1.

Nutritionally, this snack is closer to candy than it is to fruit. Candy is fine for kids to have as a treat, but by painting it as a fruit, Welch’s hopes to convince parents to give it to their children much more often.

But we wouldn’t complain about it if it weren’t for the artificial colors. Artificial colors are being phased out in Europe because there is evidence that they may cause hyperactivity in some children. But here in the US, the FDA, pressured by food lobbies, agrees to these colors.

In consumer tests, brightly colored foods sells better than bland colorless products, even if they taste the same. Manufacturers could choose natural color sources such as beet juice. But they are more costly than lab prepared dyes.

What to do at the supermarket:

Be very wary of “Fruit Snacks”. They are more candy than fruit. And if you do buy them as treats for kids, choose those without artificial colors.

Get Fooducated: iPhone App RSS Subscription or Email Subscription

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/fooducate on facebook: facebook.com/fooducate

Get Fooducated

Download APP

Subscribe

Follow

  • http://www.facebook.com/tracyhillman Trace D Hillman

    we don’t buy them at all. We are very well aware of the issues in our house with artificial food coloring, and we make every effort to avoid.

  • Jen0000

    I tell my kids: “Fruit Snacks are neither Fruit nor Snacks, they are candy.”

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1092953347 Haley McManus

    We occasionally buy Folrida’s Natural Pocket Fruit Nuggets.
    http://www.amazon.com/Floridas-Natural-Nuggets-6-Count-5-Ounce/dp/B001IZKD12
    No dyes and are made with organic ingredients. They’re no replacement for real fruit but they come in handy wehn my kids come home from shcool asking why they can’t have ‘fun treats’ in their lunches like the other kids.

  • Jen

    I usually give my daughter dried fruit when she wants a sweet fruit snack and then only in small portions. While on a family vacation with a pediatrician friend of mine, she offered my daughter these very fruit snacks. I was surprised that she would fall for the marketing. She seemed to think that they were basically the same as dried fruit and packed them for her kids’ lunch.

  • http://profiles.google.com/chrispededh Chris Pedersen

    Must read ingredients! Need to make food manufactures print ingredients in large bold print on the front of the package so we can SEE the truth.

  • Lauren

    It seems the word fruit should have to be in quotation marks or something with these products. Some people don’t read labels and can be really misled.

  • Amy

    Great job, Fooducate. I linked to you over at HealthTwisty: http://healthtwisty.blogspot.com/2011/05/snack-attack.html

    Keep up the good work!
    Amy

  • Jim Cooper

    No, the FDA reviewed the available evidence (there are only 2 papers by the same researcher) and found them unconvincing. Not because of pressure from food lobbies.
    The reports on this are all public information, and it is you who are doing the misleading.

    • http://www.fooducate.com/blog Fooducate

      Hey Jim, thanks for your persistence in replying to every blog post here on the matter.

      A quick question for you:

      If artificial dyes are so safe, why are they being phased out in Europe and Australia?

      • Jomiller11

        Its because society has come to think of them as unsafe. Even though the majority isn’t always right, they always win.

      • Brooke

        In answer to the question of why they’re being phased out in EU, I think the answer is market forces.  If you look at EFSA’s website (EU’s FDA equivalent) on artificial colors (colours), there is no evidence that the regulatory bodies that govern the EU feel they are unsafe and are pushing for their phase-out.

        http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/foodcolours.htm
        Also to note (and not mentioned very frequently) is the fact that the EU has many more artificial colors approved for use than the US.  4 of the 6 colors used in the primary study showing increased hyperactivity in children are not even approved for use here in the US.  And since they were all tested together, the results are not very applicable here in the US.

        I find it curious that Fooducate extols the virtues of the EU in this regard, yet, 1) There is no evidence that the EU is phasing them out due to EFSA recommendation/regulation and 2) The US has a limited number of artificial colors approved compared to the EU.  

        All that being said, I do think that there is a strong overlap between the use of artificial colors and those foods that should be consumed sparingly. If you eliminate most, if not all, artificial colors from your family’s diet, then you’ll be a lot better off nutritionally anyhow.

    • Lisa

      Jim, I’ve done much research on this subject and have found that the chemicals they use to create certain dyes are actually carcinogenic, though the chances of getting cancer just from eating it in products, such as fruit snacks, is very small. This does not mean that it’s safe to eat, especially since this small chance is still increasing your risk of getting cancer.

      • Jim Cooper

        I do not think there is any actual research (in a peer-reviewed journal) to suggest that consuming food colors has any chance of causing cancer when fed to animals in concentrations much like those found in foods. The fact that some dyes may be carcinogenic at hugely higher doses just isn’t relevant. Some vitamins are toxic in large doses, too.

  • Juli_mac

    Thanks you for this, I’m a harried mom that knew better deep down but let myself be swayed by the persuasive graphics. I’m sure their afternoon teachers will appreciate my nixing these in their lunches.

  • Luna7997

    When I saw this post my heart sank.  Although I never imagined these were healthy for my child, I also didn’t think they would harm him.  However, after reading this I feel I should cut back on how often my son eats these (at least twice a day).  I wish you had listed a better alternative – something that’s similar enough that he wouldn’t notice a big difference that I could be happy giving him.

    • Jim Cooper

      If you read the comments you will find that these snacks are not harmful, just not particularly nutritious. There is no evidence that food dyes are harmful. 

    • Brooke

      While I wouldn’t recommend eating them twice a day (or more), there are chewy fruit snacks that are made with fruit juice concentrate and fruit puree that do not have artificial colors.  Alternatively, there are fruit snacks that are made with refined sugars that do not have artificial colors also – I think Annie’s makes one.  

      In my grocery store they’re in the “natural/healthy” food section – although not all the choices there I would even consider “healthy”! 

      I do have to agree with Jim – I’d be more concerned about all the sugar and frequency of the snacks than the artificial colors.  I think of most things with artificial colors as a treat – avoided on a daily basis due to their lack of nutrients, not particularly because I’m concerned about the colors themselves.

      You could also tried freeze-dried fruit.  Or real fruit! =)

      • Jim Cooper

        Note that “refined sugar” has no real meaning either. See http://exm.nr/m9VDNW

  • Awsomeas

    think is time to wake up.but for sure people wont believe us they’ll believe themalways do.wata shame.