Do you hand out goodies on Halloween? Here’s something to think about before you stock up.

Petroleum-based synthetic food dyes, the preservative sodium benzoate and aspartame are in a lot of the candy that we hand out to trick-or-treaters. Studies have shown that these dyes can trigger hyperactivity and allergic reactions in sensitive children.

The FDA acknowledges that there is a problem, because they have a committee looking into the evidence linking the dyes to behavioral disorders. But they still haven’t forced food companies like Kraft, Wal-Mart, Mars and Coca-Cola to remove these things from their products or even require them to place a warning notice on labels.

Here’s the stunner: Those same companies have voluntarily removed many of these things from the products they sell in Europe. Yes, that’s right. M&M’s loaded with artificial dyes are apparently hazardous to the health of kids in Europe… but not here at home.

Kraft, Coca Cola, Wal-Mart and Mars removed these ingredients from their products sold in Europe but not here. Why not?

Before you buy your Halloween candy, read the ingredient label and don’t buy products that contain sodium benzoate and aspartame and artificial dyes Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has an amazing amount of information about this issue. They’ve started an online petition to get the artificial dye out of M&Ms. Click here to find out more!