Is the Food and Drug Administration preparing to change its position on artificial food dyes?

For years the FDA has maintained that the additives that give everything from Gatorade to Cheetos their distinctive hues are perfectly safe. Currently, there are nine synthetically produced food dyes that are on the agency's list of approved "certified colors."

But one public advocacy organization is asking whether the FDA has been looking at the issue of artificial food coloring through rose-tinted glasses.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest argues that there's mounting evidence to show that artificial food dyes cause behavior changes in some children, and FDA staffers have gone so far to prepare a report for one of the agency's advisory committees detailing a possible link between food coloring and children who have attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, as MSNBC reports.

"For certain susceptible children with ADHD and other problem behaviors, the data suggest their condition may be exacerbated [by certain additives in food including artificial colors]," the report says.

This week, the FDA advisory committee will meet to review the report and hear from outside experts, including the director of CSPI.

Any change in FDA policy would be significant. Although the agency's website admits that there have been concerns about the impact of food dyes on children's behavior since the 1970s, it maintains that science has yet to establish such a link.