Food additive study 'inconclusive'
[2008-4-2]
A UK study into links between food colouring and hyperactive children has been dismissed by Europe's food safety watchdog as too inconclusive to justify updating advice to parents.
Last year's study by researchers at Southampton University tested the effect of two mixtures of "E-number" food additives.
The research, commissioned by the UK Food Standards Agency, suggested a link between the mixtures and hyperactivity in children.
But now the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) says the results "provided limited evidence that the mixtures of additives tested had a small effect on the activity and attention of some children".
It said the effects observed were not consistent for the two age groups and two mixtures used in the study, which involved 153 children aged three, and 144 children aged eight- to nine-years-old.
The results, published in the Lancet, included a declaration that "artificial colours or a sodium benzoate preservative (or both) in the diet result in increased hyperactivity in three-year-old and eight/nine-year-old children in the general population."
In a subsequent evaluation of the findings, the UK's Committee on Toxicology said the findings added weight to previous studies on behavioural changes in children, but pointed out that the average levels of hyperactivity observed were small and inconsistent.
"Therefore it is not possible to draw conclusions on the implications of the observed changes at the population level.
"It is also not possible to extrapolate the findings to additives other than the specific combination in the mixtures used in this study," added the committee.
Now, EFSA's Panel on Food Additives says that, because of the lack of consistency in the findings, and because of "the absence of information on the clinical significance of the behavioural changes observed", the study cannot be used as a basis for altering current advice on the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of the tested colourings.
Last year's study by researchers at Southampton University tested the effect of two mixtures of "E-number" food additives.
The research, commissioned by the UK Food Standards Agency, suggested a link between the mixtures and hyperactivity in children.
But now the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) says the results "provided limited evidence that the mixtures of additives tested had a small effect on the activity and attention of some children".
It said the effects observed were not consistent for the two age groups and two mixtures used in the study, which involved 153 children aged three, and 144 children aged eight- to nine-years-old.
The results, published in the Lancet, included a declaration that "artificial colours or a sodium benzoate preservative (or both) in the diet result in increased hyperactivity in three-year-old and eight/nine-year-old children in the general population."
In a subsequent evaluation of the findings, the UK's Committee on Toxicology said the findings added weight to previous studies on behavioural changes in children, but pointed out that the average levels of hyperactivity observed were small and inconsistent.
"Therefore it is not possible to draw conclusions on the implications of the observed changes at the population level.
"It is also not possible to extrapolate the findings to additives other than the specific combination in the mixtures used in this study," added the committee.
Now, EFSA's Panel on Food Additives says that, because of the lack of consistency in the findings, and because of "the absence of information on the clinical significance of the behavioural changes observed", the study cannot be used as a basis for altering current advice on the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of the tested colourings.
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