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New Zealand's biggest supermarket company is taking steps to remove artificial colours from its own-brand food and drink ranges.
Progressive Enterprises is planning to reformulate Home Brand, Signature Range and Signature Range Select products sold in 213 branches of Countdown, Foodtown, Woolworths, Fresh Choice and Supervalue.
A spokeswoman said the company had been considering the move for over a year as part of a "proactive" attempt to improve its products.
The move follows a British study which concluded six artificial colourings can cause more damage to children's brains than lead in petrol.
The chemicals, used to create brightly coloured lollies, soft drinks and snack bars, were linked to hyperactivity and temper tantrums in children.
The findings, by a group of researchers at Southampton University, suggested the additives could also lower children's intelligence.
They prompted Britain's Food Standards Agency to recommend manufacturers should voluntarily remove the additives from food and drink by the end of next year.
The study has won praise here from the Green Party, which is calling on the New Zealand Government to follow the British lead.
But food authorities and the majority of manufacturers spoken to by the Herald on Sunday said artificial colours were as safe as natural ones and they had no plans to follow suit.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann said a comprehensive study into food additives was underway in Australia, but results were still "years" away.
John van den Beuken, of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, said no study had proved a relationship between child behavioural problems and food additives.
He accepted additives caused rashes, skin swelling, irritable bowel symptoms and headaches for some people and "behavioural changes" in some children. "Nothing can be deemed totally safe for all consumers."
New Zealand Food and Grocery Council executive director Brenda Cutress dismissed the British study as "bad science" and said it lacked credibility. "People want to blame food additives for food intolerances but they have to realise that all natural ingredients can cause this also."
She said it would be "extremely difficult" for manufacturers to reformulate their products and without the artificial colours, they would be deemed "unacceptable".
But Greens food safety spokeswoman Sue Kedgley, whose book Safety in a Toxic World examined the issue in detail, said authorities here were typically slow to react.
She said the study backed up anecdotal experience of parents who saw children's behaviour improve when they cut out artificial colours which are cheaper than natural colours.
A spokesman for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder support group ADDvocate said there was "no doubt whatsoever" that colourings affected children's behaviour, whether they had the disorder or not.
He said artificial colourings made the disorder worse but natural colours had a similar effect and a child could become hyperactive from eating lots of oranges or tomatoes.
Professor Ray Winger, of the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health, Massey University, said the study's findings were "a concern" but parents had a choice.
"In most cases, there are alternative products, usually more expensive... people should check the label." Additives must be included on a product's ingredients. They can also be found in medicines for children.
Yummy-looking lollies the worst
A quick trip to the supermarket reveals how common chemical colourings are - especially in party snacks and lunchbox treats for children.
Lollies have the most, with Allen's Party Mix and Home Brand's Tropical Mix containing four of the six additives on the British hit list.
Arnott's chocolate rainbow cookies, part of its Kids Mix lunch packs, also contained four, though the other two cookie flavours in the bag had none.
The colours are also in staple products, such as Kellogg's Froot Loops and K-Time Twists.
A Kellogg's spokeswoman said there was no plan to change formulations and all colours and additives in its foods were approved by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).
"We continually monitor developments and should FSANZ make changes to the list of approved additives and colours, we will make the relevant changes."
The controversial colours are also common in soft drinks.
Red, orange and yellow drinks are most likely to contain artificial colourings, usually just one, such as Fanta (E110) and Schweppes Sparkling Raspberry (E122).
All diet colas, such as Pepsi Max or Diet Coke, contain sodium benzoate, a preservative that stops the drink going mouldy.
That too came under fire in the British study, although researchers noted more research was required before any recommendation could be made on its use.
James Wilson, president of the New Zealand Juice and Beverage Association representing manufacturers of juice, carbonated drinks and bottled waters, including Coca Cola which owns Fanta and Schweppes, said the British study used a "cocktail" of ingredients in each trial.
"The effect of individual colours on the behaviour of children surveyed could not be accurately determined."
