Sometimes our governments pass laws that seem nonsensical, like they’re paying more attention to the irrelevant minutiae of life than the really important topics that we’d rather they focus on.

It can be easy to get frustrated about this stuff.

However sometimes, when you look more deeply into the reasoning behind these decisions it is possible that the choices could make a little more sense.

Take California’s recent banning of six synthetic food dyes, for example. The new School Safety Act bans these six dyes (Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Red 40) in any food that is sold in public schools in California.

With so many pressing issues facing the State of California at this time, why have they chosen to prioritise this directive?

California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, who initially proposed this change, explained in an interview with NBC News that this small change to food ingredients was backed up by science, and could make a huge difference to kids’ neurological health:

“We conducted a systematic literature search that identified numerous clinical trials examining neurological effects of food dyes in children. We involved expert scientists, the general public, and independent external expert scientists peer-reviewed the draft assessment before it was revised and released as this final report.”

So what exactly did the report say, that caused such dramatic action?

The initial study was build on suspicion long-held by parents and teachers that some food additives made kids more unruly, particularly worsening the behavioral issues and symptoms of kids with ADHD.

The resulting report, published by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, provided irrefutable evidence for these suspicions – and more.

The particular artificial colorings that allow our snacks to present in an array of rainbow colors are actually damaging to our health. The report explains that these dyes could be causing, or at least worsening, behavioral problems and leading to kids getting a poorer education and life experience as a result:

“Overall, our review of human studies suggests that synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral effects, such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and restlessness in sensitive children.”

“The evidence supports a relationship between food dye exposure and adverse behavioral outcomes in children, both with and without pre-existing behavioral disorders.”

So why are these dyes in our food in the first place?

Well, the more attractive something looks, the better it is likely to sell. This is especially the case when it comes to children; decades of marketing and advertising specialists have manipulated kids into buying things with brightly colored packaging and kid-focused designs.

And the US is lagging far behind other parts of the Western world when it comes to banning harmful ingredients. A whole host of colorings and flavorings are banned in places like the UK and the EU thanks to their harmful effects on human health. Plenty of these colorings have been known for a long time to affect the attention of children; some colorings are even proven to cause cancer.

In the US, it is certainly a good thing that California is leading the way in banning these colorings in food destined to be sold to kids, with other states inspired and following suit.

Thanks to California’s action, one day these harmful additives could be a thing of the past.

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