Artificial Food Colours in Indian Children's Snacks: What the US Banned That India Still Allows

In 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began formal proceedings to remove Red No. 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 from food products — artificial dyes that have been linked to behavioural problems, hyperactivity, and attention difficulties in children. California passed SB 1192 in 2024 banning these dyes in school meals. The UK's Food Standards Agency has required warning labels ("may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children") on products containing six specific dyes — the Southampton Six — since 2010. The European Union followed with mandatory warnings. India's FSSAI, as of 2026, requires none of these warnings. The same dyes — Tartrazine (INS 102/Yellow 5), Sunset Yellow FCF (INS 110/Yellow 6), Carmoisine (INS 122/Red), Ponceau 4R (INS 124/Red), Erythrosine (INS 127/Red 3), and Allura Red AC (INS 129/Red 40) — remain fully permitted in Indian food products with no behavioural warning.

The most rigorous evidence comes from the 2007 Southampton study, published in The Lancet, which found that mixtures of artificial food colours significantly increased hyperactivity in children aged 3 and 8-9 years — in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The mechanism involves dye interference with dopamine and norepinephrine pathways in the brain, which regulate attention and impulse control. For children who already have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), artificial dyes can dramatically worsen symptoms — some paediatric neurologists report that removing dyes from an ADHD child's diet produces effects comparable to low-dose medication. India has approximately 15 million children with ADHD, though most are undiagnosed. Beyond behaviour, Tartrazine (Yellow 5) is an allergen that can trigger asthma attacks in aspirin-sensitive individuals and is one of the top food allergy triggers. Red 40 (Allura Red) has been shown to disrupt gut microbiome diversity in animal studies, with human gut health implications still under investigation.