Do food additives cause ADHD?
• In 1975, Feingold published his hypothesis that the elimination of certain food additives from the diets of hyperactive children can result in improvement of behavioral symptoms (3). • 1981: Two studies were published which did not support Feingold’s hypothesis. One study challenged children who had already been on Feingold’s diet with high doses of color additives and found no effect, when compared to a placebo (4). Another found no effect of violations of the Feingold diet among children who had been on the Feingold diet for 3 months (5). • A 1986 review of studies which evaluated the Feingold diet concluded that there is no evidence for a causal association between food additives and behavioral disturbance in children (6). • A 1986 review of studies which controverted Feingold’s hypothesis maintained that data from these studies were interpreted incorrectly, or that they were flawed in other ways (7). • A recent study of the food color additive tartrazine suggested a dose response
