When clinical nutritionist Stacy Roy takes her daughter Neela trick-or-treating this Halloween, she’ll be thinking about the ingredients in the candy handed out – but not just for that night.
That’s because Roy, who lives in Petaluma, Calif., takes a fairly relaxed approach to the sweet treats Neela, 8, collects on October 31. Her take is one of moderation and mindfulness, staying educated year-round on the potentially harmful additives and other chemicals in food, and promoting a balanced approach to candy that helps keep kids happy and healthy.
As a California resident, Roy is also a strong supporter of the California Food Safety Act, a landmark law co-sponsored by EWG and Consumer Reports that ends the food uses of brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propyl paraben and Red Dye No. 3. These chemicals are linked to serious health problems, such as hyperactivity, nervous system damage and an increased risk of cancer. The law will force these chemicals out of popular candy sold in the state.
Given the size of California’s economy, candy makers and other food producers are unlikely to make one set of products just to sell in that state and another set with the harmful chemicals to sell in the rest of the U.S. So they’ll reformulate their products to remove these four substances entirely, no matter where they’re sold. That means healthier food for all Americans.
EWG spoke with Roy, who specializes in digestive issues, about how parents and caregivers can encourage kids to have a healthier relationship with candy – and making that candy safer.
Q. How did you develop your interest and career in nutrition?
A. About 20 years ago I was diagnosed with endometriosis and had surgery that was not successful in reducing my pain and symptoms. At the time, I stumbled on a book about nutrition and endometriosis, which led me to change my diet – and I had relief from my pain.
That set me on the path to change careers, because until then I was planning on being a physical therapist. Now I work with adults on nutrition, including a lot of work on women’s health and digestive conditions. I’m really interested in the hormonal implications of food additives, because a lot of these chemicals are [gastrointestinal] irritants.
And my daughter has celiac disease. It’s not an allergy, it’s an autoimmune disease that can cause a lot of intestinal damage and has the potential to cause other health problems.
Q. Halloween for kids is all about trick-or-treat candy. How do you handle that?
A. My approach might be more relaxed than other parents. To me Halloween is just one day. I’m more concerned about consistent exposure to additives in food that can happen throughout the rest of the year. So I don’t limit my daughter, because I don’t want her to feel deprived, and that approach has helped her focus on moderation. It’s important to be mindful.
We definitely go trick-or-treating, which she loves and we enjoy because it’s fun. This year we’re going as contestants from the TV show “Survivor,” and my husband will be the host Jeff Probst.
Neela gets to eat a lot of candy on Halloween, and that night she’ll pick her favorites to keep, and leave the rest outside her bedroom door for the "switch witch. "In the morning the "switch witch" has taken the candy and replaced it with a toy or some art.
That’s one way we really try to make it fun, and not make trick-or-treating all about restrictions. It worked for our family, but I also realize this might not work for all families.
Q. Do you have other tips for how parents should talk to their kids about food?
I think a lot of it is avoiding full restriction. I work with adults, and they’re the same way. A black-and-white approach of just restricting something makes the brain want it more, and that’s why so many diets fail. You just think about it the more that you can’t have it.
I really want my child, and the people I work with and their kids, to have a healthy relationship with food and love it, and not make it something to fear. That’s why balance and moderation are key.
From a young age, we worked with our daughter on cooking and gardening and getting her excited about food that way. It really helped with introducing her to new textures and flavors.
Q. How will California’s new food safety law help children to eat healthier?
No parent wants to go to the grocery store and tell their kids there are bad things on the shelves. They should be able to go to the store and just get food that is food. Parents shouldn’t have to be detectives to understand what’s in the food they buy – not just for Halloween.
The law makes it easier and better to know that what you’re feeding kids is healthier. You don’t have to worry about the hormonal implications or digestive distress from these four additives.
It makes it easier for people to take a more moderate approach to what they buy rather than just avoiding something entirely because it has one of these additives in it.
So many of the adults I work with have kids, and additives can be confusing for parents. They know that candy isn’t nutrient-dense, but if they are buying things that seem healthier, like yogurt or vitamins, parents aren’t necessarily screening for additives in the same way. That’s why I’m so supportive of the law – because it bans four of these additives from food.
Q. Did you know kids in other countries already get candies without those four additives?
A. Yes, I’ve been very aware that in China, the European Union, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and elsewhere, the exact same manufacturer selling candy in the U.S. makes the identical product but with a much shorter ingredient list and without a lot of these additives.
Manufacturers already have these safer formulas and recipes. Our food system really needs to catch up.
I know the new law is just for California, but I really doubt a company will make a safer product just for California, so I hope it has a ripple effect across the rest of the country.
Q. What next steps would you like to see California take on food safety?
A. Titanium dioxide was another chemical in the original additives bill but it was removed, so I think that would be a great next one [to ban]. It’s already banned as a food additive in Europe.
I also think our food labeling laws could use a lot of work.
I’m involved with so many parent and nutritionist groups, and figuring out what to feed children is so much work. Other countries label things so much better, labeling food for things like wheat allergies or celiac disease. It hasn’t been a priority here, even though more kids are being diagnosed with allergies or celiac disease.
Hopefully the new food law will be the kickoff to more changes.
