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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tz'unun" data-source="post: 1570374" data-attributes="member: 14142">What's changed since 2001 or 2005, Mark? Certainly not the evidence against synthetic red dyes. If anything we have a stronger case against them with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allura_Red_AC#Potential_behavioral_effects" target="_blank">the 2007 British study that found that Red #40 (a.k.a. Allura Red) in combination with sodium benzoate (also used in "instant nectar" products) increased hyperactivity symptoms and lowered IQ in children</a>. You're correct that the effects of dyes and other artificial additives on hummingbirds have never been proven. They've never even been tested on hummingbirds (which is where the urban myth comes in). But why should they be tested on hummingbirds? After all, sick and/or dead people aren't required to ban a food additive or revise its approved uses. Tests on lab animals are the standard by which regulatory agencies around the world assess possible health effects on humans, and Red #40 and Red #3 have been tested extensively on lab animals with alarming results. This page summarizes the scientific evidence and cites the relevant studies:<a href="http://www.trochilids.com/dye.html" target="_blank">Trochilids.com: Should I Add Red Dye to My Hummingbird Food?</a>For hummingbirds, the danger is in the consumption rates, which are huge compared to normal human consumption rates and even greater than the experimental dosages shown to cause damage in the test animals. So no, we don't have to kill a statistically valid sample of hummingbirds by force-feeding them these additives to make a very strong case that they're a very bad idea. This was my position in 2001 and 2005, and it's still my position.To be completely blunt, the Snopes article is wrong (even though I wrote them several years ago to try to get them to update it), the Operation RubyThroat article is wrong, and <a href="http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyard_birds/top_ten/bill_top_10_myths.aspx" target="_blank">this Bird Watcher's Digest article is wrong</a>.Carjug, keep up the good work.</blockquote>

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