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Listen to this siteFriday 14 September 2007
children two smiling
The Agency invited consumer and public interest organisations yesterday to a discussion of next steps following the publication last week of the study looking at certain artificial colours and their effect on children's behaviour.
The following groups attended:
The organisations attending said it was unreasonable to place the burden of avoiding these artificial colours on consumers.
The group view was that these colours should be banned and that Agency advice should have been extended to all children. They also said that the labelling of these additives is not always clear and that more should be done to alert consumers to the Agency's revised advice.
The group also also expressed concern about the considerable proportion of foods that are sold loose and are therefore not labelled, and the foods consumed by children outside the home and therefore outside of parental control.
The group cautiously welcomed the Agency’s initiative in setting up a page on its website that will provide information about what industry is doing, together with details of company websites and customer careline numbers.
They saw this as a starting point for more widespread communication on this issue using a number of communication tools including leaflets and magazine advertising, targeting those who may not have access to the Internet. The meeting also gave some initial ideas for the Agency to consider. These included;
The Agency undertook to feed these initial ideas into next week's open Board meeting, taking place in London on 20 September.
The group responded positively to the Agency suggestion that they and industry meet under the aegis of the FSA to discuss what further practical steps could be taken by the food industry.
Back to topThe Agency received a letter to our Chair Deirdre Hutton jointly signed by the Soil Association, Hyperactive Children's Support Group and Sustain in relation to the University of Southampton research into certain artificial food colours, and the Agency's handling of its findings. The Agency replied to the letter and has published the correspondence. The letter to the Agency, and its reply are linked from the See Also box below.
Back to topDownload pdf
(pdf 197KB) Response from FSA to the Soil Association about colours research (14 September 2007)Download pdf
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