Food Dyes What You’re Really Eating (And Why It Matters) Take a quick look at the ingredient list on most packaged foods today and you’ll almost always find one thing in common: artificial color additives. These bright, eye-catching dyes are used to make food look more appealing… but they don’t add any real nutritional value. In fact, they may be doing the opposite. Many of the foods containing these dyes are already highly processed — stripped of nutrients and filled with sy