April 30, 2015

In 2012, Joel Nigg, Ph.D., M.S.W, professor of psychiatry, OHSU School of Medicine,  co-authored a report linking color additives to ADHD symptoms in children. Three years later that news is again making headlines, this time in the Scientific American, as popular food manufacturer Kraft announces it will soon remove yellow dye from its macaroni and cheese.

"The literature here is so sparse that on the one hand you can sympathize with those who want to take a wait-and-see attitude. But on the other hand, when we do look at the literature we have, it's surprising that we do see effects that seem to be real," he says. "Do you want to take a chance that these initial studies are wrong and put kids at risk or do you want to take a chance that they're right? We have to work on the data we have." Read Does Artificial Food Coloring Contribute to ADHD in Children?

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Do diet changes help ADHD children? (Chicago Tribune, 2013)