F.D.A. Panel to Consider Warnings for Artificial Food Colorings

  WASHINGTON — After staunchly defending the safety of artificial food colorings, the federal government is for the first time publicly reassessing whether foods like Jell-O, Lucky Charms cereal and Minute Maid Lemonade should carry warnings that the bright artificial colorings in them worsen behavior problems like hyperactivity in some children.


The Food and Drug Administration concluded long ago that there was no definitive link between the colorings and behavior or health problems, and the agency is unlikely to change its mind any time soon. But on Wednesday and Thursday, the F.D.A. will ask a panel of experts to review the evidence and advise on possible policy changes, which could include warning labels on food.


The hearings signal that the growing list of studies suggesting a link between artificial colorings and behavioral changes in children has at least gotten regulators’ attention — and, for consumer advocates, that in itself is a victory.


In a concluding report, staff scientists from the F.D.A. wrote that while typical children might be unaffected by the dyes, those with behavioral disorders might have their conditions “exacerbated by exposure to a number of substances in food, including, but not limited to, synthetic color additives.”


Renee Shutters, a mother of two from Jamestown, N.Y., said in a telephone interview on Tuesday that two years ago, her son Trenton, then 5, was having serious behavioral problems at school until she eliminated artificial food colorings from his diet. “I know for sure I found the root cause of this one because you can turn it on and off like a switch,” Ms. Shutters said.


But Dr. Lawrence Diller, a behavioral pediatrician in Walnut Creek, Calif., said evidence that diet plays a significant role in most childhood behavioral disorders was minimal to nonexistent. “These are urban legends that won’t die,” Dr. Diller said.


There is no debate about the safety of natural food colorings, and manufacturers have long defended the safety of artificial ones as well. In a statement, the Grocery Manufacturers Association said, “All of the major safety bodies globally have reviewed the available science and have determined that there is no demonstrable link between artificial food colors and hyperactivity among children.”

Lindsay Lohan: 'Source Code' Screening

Lindsay Lohan attends a screening of the new film Source Code held at the Crosby Street Hotel on Thursday (March 31) in New York City.


The 24-year-old actress recently prompted speculation over whether she was drinking after she stumbled down the sidewalk outside the Motor City Bar.


Lindsay turned down the rumors on her Twitter by saying, “funny how making a joke can turn into…. well, me falling and a story..”

Northeast slammed with April Fools' snowstorm

PORTLAND, Maine - An April Fools' storm brought heavy snowfall to parts of New England on Friday, creating a late-season winter wonderland that sent scores of cars sliding off roads, knocked out power for thousands and gave kids a surprise reprieve from school.


The spring Nor'easter packed a wallop as people awoke Friday — April Fools' Day — with wet, heavy snow quickly covering the pavement and clinging to trees, which drooped under the weight.


Falling tree limbs knocked out electricity for nearly 60,000 homes and businesses in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island at the storm's peak, officials said. Scores of cars and trucks slid off roads, but there were no reports of serious injuries.


Brunswick Naval Air Station spokesman John Ripley gave himself permission to work from home after a failed attempt to drive to work on slippery I-295


"It was pretty dicey, to say the least," said Ripley, of Portland, who saw four vehicles off the highway and watched another fishtail before turning back.


Parts of Maine and New Hampshire were expected to see upward of a foot of snow, but the storm failed to live up to its billing elsewhere.

CIA will help decide whether to arm Libyan rebels

The CIA has small teams of operatives in Libya to gather intelligence to help the White House determine what type of assistance is required for the rebels battling Moammar Gadhafi's troops.

Battlefield setbacks are hardening the U.S. view that the poorly equipped opposition probably is incapable of prevailing without decisive Western intervention, a senior U.S. intelligence official told The Associated Press.

Lawmakers, in private briefings with top Obama administration officials, have been asking tough questions about the cost of the military operation and expressed concern about the makeup of the rebels.

"No decision has been made about providing arms to the opposition or to any groups in Libya," said White House press secretary Jay Carney Wednesday. "We're not ruling it out or ruling it in."

The CIA's precise role in Libya is not clear. Intelligence experts said the CIA operatives would have made contact with the opposition to assess the strength and needs of the rebel forces in the event U.S. President Barack Obama decides to arm them.

Plutonium at Fukushima dangerous: Russian expert

The nuclear crisis in Japan is evolving along the worst case scenario, says a Russian expert, commenting on reports that plutonium has been found in soil samples at the Fukushima nuclear plant.


“In all likelihood, fuel at the second reactor is melting and burning through the reactor containment and may get into the ocean and soil,” said Professor Vladimir Kuznetsov, member of the advisory board of Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear monopoly.


The Tokyo Electric Power Company, operator of the Fukushima plant, said on Tuesday that low-risk levels of plutonium were found in some soil samples at the facility. Plutonium is used in the fuel mix in the Fukushima reactors. It is a highly carcinogenic substance that retains its killing capacity for thousands of years.


“The seeping of plutonium into soil and water is the most dangerous thing that can happen,” Prof. Kuznetsov told the Interfax wire service. “Ocean currents may carry it around the world, and nobody knows whether it ends up inside fish or on a beach.”