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More than 30 years ago, Dr. Benjamin Feingold suggested that artificial food colorings (AFCs) and preservatives increased hyperactive behavior in children, but the association remains controversial despite decades of research. In a recent meta-analysis, researchers concluded that their study “supports the hypothesis that AFCs promote hyperactivity in hyperactive children” (J Dev Behav Pediatr 2004 Dec; 25:423). Now, investigators in the U.K. conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover food challenge study to examine whether AFCs and the food preservative sodium benzoate increase hyperactive behavior in a nonclinical sample of 153 children aged 3 years and 144 children aged 8 years in the general population. The study sample repres…