The 'Some Lawmakers Want Marshmallow Peeps To Change Their Ingredients" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished eating the remnants from my Easter basket.  Loved anything that had chocolate in it.  One treat I don't eat, or should I say won't eat, is the marshmallow Peeps.  I realize that more than 1 billion Peeps chirped off the shelves at Easter due to their vibrant colors and sweet flavor, but what makes these Peeps so vibrant is a chemical known as erythrosine which is a chemical that shows up on ingredient labels as Red No. 3.  And, that one small ingredient can give you cancer!  Red No. 3 is one of several chemicals, along with titanium dioxide, used to color some of the most popular candies in the country, including Skittles and Hot Tamales.  They were banned more than 30 years ago from women's makeup, but for some strange reason were never banned from food, especially candy.  Now, a California State lawmaker wants to change that!  He doesn't want to ban the candy, but the chemical that is placed in the candy.  Assemblymaker Jesse Gabriel authored the bill and says there are plenty of other chemicals that can be used to replace the chemical that can kill you.  He wonders why the USA allows the Red No. 3 to be used when other countries will not allow it.  He wants the United States candy companies to stop using the toxic ingredient and use one that is accepted that is not dangerous.  The National Confectioners Asso., the trade group that represents candy companies, says it not that easy.  They claim it's not that easy to change ingredients since many buyers would notice the change in flavor and might not buy the Peeps.  So...it's OK to kill people as long as they died eating the candy that tasted good.  California Assemblymaker Gabriel has a new bill that would ban erythrosine and titanium dioxide as well as potassium bromate and propylparaben.  These are chemicals that are used to make baked goods and some sodas.  The U.S. has allowed dyes like erythrosine in food since 1907, but researchers have found that rats that were exposed to erythrosine over a long period of time developed  thyroid cancer.  Because of the testing, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned erythrosine from cosmetics.  Consumer safety groups have tried for years to get the agency to ban the chemical in food, but to no avail.  Titanium dioxide is a white powder that, because it scatters light, can make colors appear brighter.  It's been used for 100 years in products like paints, paper, rubber, toothpaste, soap and food coloring.  The International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed titanium dioxide as a possible carcinogen in humans.  Other groups maintain there is no evidence of it causing cancer in humans.  The candy industry insists the chemical California is considering banning "has been thoroughly reviewed by the federal and state systems and any international scientific bodies and continue to be deemed safe.  These scientifically based regulatory processes should be allowed to continue without second guessing their outcomes."  So, what do you think.  Is it worth a marshmallow Peep?  For me...there are too many other candies that I can eat where I don't have to worry that I may become sick in another year or two due to the ingredients in the candy.  Life's too short to have to worry about eating contaminated candy and dying!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.