Suffering from green tongue

Oct 2 2007 by Sheila Coleman, Western Mail

AS A child I longed to have a green tongue like many of my friends – the result of eating the almost fluorescent lollipops you could buy back in the late 1970s.

While my pals slurped vibrant drinks and multi-coloured sweets, I was banned from such rainbow-like confectionery. My mother was ahead of her time.

A scientist, she believed many of the food additives – the E-numbers – could not be good for you. “Natural” food colours such as red derived from cochineal were OK, but she had her suspicions about bright blues and greens. I was told to avoid them.

Needless to say, at the time I thought she was bonkers and felt hard done by. But secretly eating the illicit candy was not an option; as soon as you opened your mouth you’d be rumbled.

However, in recent years – and over the past few weeks in particular – there has been a backlash against artificial food additives. They have been blamed for behavioural problems in children.

As a result a number of manufacturers and retailers have now banned their use, and the Food Standards Agency has advised parents of hyperactive children to stop giving them food containing certain artificial colours and preservatives.

As the mother of a very active four-year-old, I can now understand the position my mother was in 30-odd years ago.

Fortunately my daughter has never been a fan of fizzy drinks (in fact she won’t touch them) and is not all that enamoured of sweets either.

She is incredibly energetic. If she had a daily dose of these additives, I dread to think what she’d be like!

My mother’s warning about those lurid green lollies has remained with me. I may occasionally take a nostalgic look, but never taste!

Sheila Coleman is a partner in Coleman Roberts Communications, specialists in providing publicity for rural businesses. Contact sheila@colemanroberts.co.uk