Annatto? A No No.

[billroper]

Katie really, really likes the little Graduates corn snacks. They're sort of like Cheetos for toddlers. But daisy_knotwise noticed a while back that when she's been eating them, she starts misbehaving a lot, so we stopped buying the things. That worked pretty well, except that Katie grabbed a can of them in the Wal-Mart recently and Gretchen remembered that she liked them, but not the subsequent misbehavior, so she went ahead and bought more of them.

And Katie gradually chowed her way through the can, misbehaving all the way. *sigh*

Last night, I picked up the empty can and carefully read the list of ingredients again, looking for anything suspect. The last ingredient on the list was "annatto color extract". So I went off to Google and found that a number of people have bad reactions to it, which might just explain the way Katie misbehaves after eating it.

(This is not to say that I trust everything I see on random websites that I google up, but rather to say that I'm willing to let them confirm my own observations from time to time.)

So just because it's a "natural" ingredient, it doesn't mean it should be on Katie's diet.

And from now on, it won't be.

Comments

[ladysoapmaker.livejournal.com]

the biggst problem I've found with annatto seeds is the it may or may not be shipped in soybean oil before it's processed. My son is allergic to soy and sometimes we have very bad reaction with annatto. so good luck.

[lonotter.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing the web sites you looked at mentioned it, but if not, anatto is what makes orange cheeses, like cheddar, orange. Pale cheeses shouldn't be a problem. IIRC it isn't added to the sharper, aged cheddars because of degradations during the aging process. (and tradition)

[singingpatient.livejournal.com]

that's because they've really loosened the standards for what a "natural" ingredient is. under things like "natural flavorings" cna be things like MSG! which is really really toxic to some of us.

[qnofhrt.livejournal.com]

But MSG IS natural. You have a bunch in your body right now. Your brain wouldn't function very well without glutamate, a neurotransmitter. But as with many other things, a little bit is good, more than that (for some) is bad.

It's natural so it must be safe, right?

[qnofhrt.livejournal.com]

Let's see - ricin toxin, plutonium, uranium, arsenic and lead are all natural. Wouldn't want any of those on Katie's snacks either :-)

Re: It's natural so it must be safe, right?

[billroper]

True enough, although none of those were intentionally added by the manufacturer. :)

[mbcrui.livejournal.com]

My littlest is allergic to the purple dye they use in Zyrtec. Took a while to figure that one out... until we found the same dye in fluoride and in grape benedryl. We got to spend hours on the phone with the FDA and everything.