Danger to children from food and drink additives

Parents are to be warned of the dangers of giving their young children drinks, sweets and cakes containing specified artificial additives, as a result of new findings being made public for the first time today which confirm their link with hyperactivity and disruptive behaviour. ...

The release of the new public health advice follows the results of the biggest UK study into the links between hyper-activity and chemical food additives,  ... But the move has confounded experts and health campaigners, who say the government had missed an opportunity to take a tougher line by banning the additives completely instead of placing a huge burden on parents. Adults are being advised to check for additives by scrutinising labels, yet many sweets and cakes are sold loose without labels, as is ice cream.

The FSA also said it would not be issuing any formal advice about the findings to headteachers about the content of school meals.