The Science behind it all
Sugar and Artificial Additives: Two Separate Problems, Both Worth Taking Seriously
At SAFYN™, we are dedicated to providing sweets that are not only delicious but also mindful of our children’s health. Our commitment stems from our personal experiences as parents of children with neurodiversity. We’ve seen firsthand how certain artificial additives can affect behaviour and well-being.
But additives are only half the story. The evidence is equally clear that excess sugar is harming children’s health — it simply harms them in a different way, and on a different timescale. Conventional confectionery delivers both at once. Below we set out what the research actually shows about each, and where the limits of that research lie.
Two problems, not one
Artificial additives — synthetic colourants and preservatives — have been associated in controlled trials with increases in hyperactive behaviour, with effects appearing within hours.
Free sugars — the sugars added to food, including those in honey, syrups and fruit juice — are associated with dental caries, excess weight gain and elevated metabolic risk, with effects accumulating over months and years.
Removing one does not neutralise the other. A sweet with no synthetic dye is not thereby a health food, and nothing on this page should be read as suggesting that sugar is harmless.
The Southampton Study (2007)
One of the most significant studies in this field is the Southampton study, published in 2007 in The Lancet (McCann et al.). The researchers investigated the effects of artificial food colourings and the preservative sodium benzoate on children’s behaviour.
The study included both 3-year-olds and 8-9-year-olds and found that the consumption of these additives was associated with an increase in hyperactive behaviour. As a result, several countries and the European Union mandated warning labels or took steps to limit these additives in foods aimed at children.
“Consumption of artificial food colourings and preservatives resulted in increased hyperactive behaviour in children.” - McCann et al., The Lancet, 2007
It is worth being precise about what this trial did and did not show. The drinks were designed so that the additives were the only variable under test; the study was not an examination of sugar, and its findings say nothing about sugar’s safety either way. Read carefully, it is evidence against artificial additives — not evidence for sugar.
What the evidence says about sugar
There is a persistent belief that sugar makes children hyperactive. Controlled trials have largely not supported it: a well-known meta-analysis of double-blind studies (Wolraich et al., JAMA, 1995) found no reliable effect of sugar on the behaviour or cognition of most children, and later work has broadly agreed. Parents are not imagining the chaos at a birthday party — but the evidence points to the occasion, the additives and the expectation as more likely explanations than the sucrose itself.
That finding is often misread as a clean bill of health. It is not. Sugar’s well-established harms are metabolic and dental rather than behavioural, and they are substantial. The World Health Organization recommends that free sugars make up less than 10% of a child’s daily energy intake, with a further conditional reduction to below 5% for additional health benefit (WHO, Guideline: Sugars Intake for Adults and Children, 2015). Intakes above that range are associated with:
Dental caries
The most consistently demonstrated harm, and dose-dependent: risk tracks both how much and how often sugar is consumed.
Weight gain
Sugar-dense foods and drinks add energy without satiety, and higher intakes are associated with excess weight gain in childhood.
Metabolic risk
Sustained high intakes are associated with markers of metabolic risk, including insulin resistance and unfavourable blood lipids.
Note the WHO definition carefully: free sugars include honey, syrups and fruit juice, not only refined white cane sugar. Any sweet, however it is sweetened, counts towards a child’s daily total.
The Science Behind Artificial Additives
Artificial additives, such as colourings (like tartrazine, sunset yellow, and allura red) and synthetic preservatives (such as sodium benzoate), are commonly found in processed confectionery. Research indicates that these compounds may act on the developing nervous system — proposed mechanisms include mild neuro-inflammation, shifts in neurotransmitter balance (including dopamine and histamine), and histamine release in sensitive individuals. These mechanisms remain an active area of study, and effects vary considerably from child to child.
Central Nervous System Impact
Additives may contribute to sensory overstimulation, reported as restlessness, sudden mood shifts, irritability, and difficulty with self-regulation.
Individual Sensitivity
Children on the autism spectrum or with ADHD often have heightened biochemical sensitivities, and reported responses to synthetic food chemicals are correspondingly stronger.
Why SAFYN™ Uses Saffron & Raw Honey
SAFYN™ is formulated to address both problems rather than one. We remove synthetic colourants and preservatives entirely, and we build sweetness from whole fruit and raw honey instead of refined cane sugar — while treating the total sugar load as something to be kept in check, not disguised.
Saffron: The Golden Spice for Balance & Focus
Saffron (Crocus sativus) is rich in the compounds crocin and safranal. Early clinical trials — including small, short paediatric studies in ADHD — report effects on mood stability and attention, and laboratory work points to antioxidant activity in neural tissue. This evidence base is promising but still limited, and we present it as such.
Raw Unheated Honey: A Sugar We Chose Deliberately
Raw honey brings oligosaccharides, enzymes and antioxidants that refined cane sugar does not, and it is absorbed somewhat more gradually. We want to be straightforward about the rest: honey is chemically close to table sugar, it counts as a free sugar under the WHO definition, and it should be counted towards your child’s daily total exactly as any other sugar would be.
Where we stand
SAFYN™ is a sweet, and a sweet is a treat. Our claim is a narrow and honest one: that when a child does have a treat, it should not also deliver synthetic colourants and preservatives, and its sweetness should come from ingredients you can name. That is a meaningful improvement on conventional confectionery. It is not a licence to eat more of it.
Enjoyed in modest portions as part of a varied diet, SAFYN™ belongs on the table. Eaten daily and in quantity, no sweet does — ours included.
References
- McCann, D. et al. (2007). Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. The Lancet, 370(9598), 1560-1567.
- Wolraich, M. L., Wilson, D. B. & White, J. W. (1995). The effect of sugar on behavior or cognition in children: a meta-analysis. JAMA, 274(20), 1617-1621.
- World Health Organization (2015). Guideline: Sugars Intake for Adults and Children. Geneva: WHO.
This page summarises published research for general information. It is not medical or dietary advice; speak to a healthcare professional about your child’s individual needs.