Do you know what caused the bruises on this poor kid’s head? Annatto 160b, a natural food colouring in many Streets ice cream products.

Many food companies have already removed Annatto 160b, yet Unilever still continues to use the colouring in popular Streets ice cream brands. A safe alternative exists: natural beta carotene 160a is a food colour found in many fruit and vegetables and is a precursor to Vitamin A. Please use that.

Annatto 160b is the only natural colour that can affect some children and adults even worse than artificial colours. It has also been associated with rare allergic reactions.

Listen to reports

My 7yo son headbangs and headbutts with annatto. Actually he generally becomes a right little monster with it. I avoid it like the plague. I will not allow annatto under any circumstances after the last episode with it - Alice.

Annatto made him punch himself repeatedly in the head with a closed fist and also bang his head against the wall - Sarah

His tantrums at school which had involved kicking the teacher and often spitting and having to be carried to the office have stopped (now that he is not eating annatto) - Rhonda.

I react to annatto with insomnia, anxiousness, a shaky sensation, I "snap" easily and it does not take much to make me get angry. My son has difficulty falling asleep, disturbed night sleeps, silly behaviour and sometimes aggressive. My daughter has disturbed sleep - Rose

The Food Intolerance Network www.fedup.com.au with over 10,000 families has logged many hundreds of complaints about natural colour annatto 160b, including tantrums and head banging in young children; headaches, migraines, irritability, insomnia, hives and irritable bowel symptoms in adults and children.

Listen to the science

See scientific studies showing reactions to annatto 160b

Our kids deserve to have this nasty additive replaced with safer alternatives