US panel rejects calls for warning labels on link between food dyes and hyperactivity.

United States regulators are taking a closer look at the dyes that create those eye-catching colours in Froot Loops, Skittles and orange Fanta to determine if the artificial colorings contribute to hyperactive behavior in some children. Further study is needed on whether consuming artificial dyes can negatively affect children's behavior, a federal advisory panel indicated after two days of hearings on the issue, while narrowly rejecting calls for food labels that warn about a potential link between hyperactivity and synthetic dyes. The US Food and Drug Administration began its review of the issue after the private Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) in 2008 filed a petition asking the government to ban the use of synthetic dyes and, in the interim, require food warning labels about their impact on the behavior of some children. The center said a number of scientific studies had shown that synthetic dyes may exacerbate behavior problems in some children. In response to specific questions posed by the FDA, the agency's food advisory committee voted 13-1 for more research on the subject and 8-6 against new warning labels. It agreed that some children may benefit from diets that eliminate synthetic dyes, but said a " causal relationship between consumption of certified color additives in food and hyperactivity in children in the general population has not been established. " The committee is made up of doctors, food experts, scientists and consumer representatives. FDA spokesman Douglas Karas says the agency will take the committee's recommendations under consideration as it continues its review of the issue. No decision is imminent. CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson says he's disappointed that the committee didn't support warning labels. But he was encouraged that the government is at least looking into the link between food dyes and children's behavior. " A year ago, the agency maintained that there was no evidence that dyes affect children's behavior, " he says. " Now, the agency recognizes that dyes do affect some children. " One of those children is 7-year-old Trenton Shutters of Jamestown, New York. His mother testified before the advisory committee about startling improvement in her son's behavior once she cut out food dyes. " His behavior kept getting better and better, " Renee Shutters says, adding that she feels lucky that the family was able to make the connection. " If we hadn't figured this out, I'm afraid to even think …