[bodiekane]

A minor improvement to your argument here- artificial dyes are legitimately harmful in many cases. There are good reasons why the EU had already banned multiple chemicals that were still allowed in the US, and it's a good thing to update the American standards to the EU ones (which are generally more focused on human health as opposed to corporate profits).

The focus and prioritization is definitely out of line though, and it's particularly absurd in the face of the rolling back of pollution protections and removing access to healthcare.

Basically, it's focusing on a minor problem rather than the major ones. (But the minor problem is a legitimate one, and we should be solving all of them).

[hn_throwaway_99]

Which food dyes are you referring to specifically that are banned in the EU but used in the US? The 5 major food dyes that are actually used in the US (red 40, blue 1, blue 2, yellow 5, yellow 6) are all allowed in the EU, some at higher concentrations. Red 3 was already banned (though with a phaseout period to 2027) in January by the Biden admin. There are lots of things thrown around on social media that there are all these common food dyes used in the US that are banned in the EU, and that's just not accurate.

Knurick's has a great blog post on the issue, https://drjessicaknurick.substack.com/p/the-truth-about-synt....

That said, definitely in agreement about the major point that it's a distraction, and Knurick says many times she's not advocating for food dyes, rather that the bigger issue is the overwhelming prevalence of ultra-processed (i.e. high calorie but devoid of other nutrients and fiber) foods in the US first.