Soft drinks companies operating in the European Union are to be forced to flag up on the front of bottles the use of artificial colourings linked to hyperactivity in children, under new EU rules.

From 20 July, any drinks maker using one of six artificial colourings must display this prominently on the packaging.

The new labelling rule, set to be enforced by the European Commission, follows a study commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the UK that showed the colourings can increase the risk of hyperactivity in children.

Many soft drinks firms in the UK have been working to remove the colourings from their formulations, after the FSA called for a “voluntary ban” on their use in 2008.

Most recently, Scotland-based drinks group AG Barr told just-drinks that it planned to remove two of the colourings – sunset yellow and ponceau 4R – from its Irn-Bru drink, after 18 months of research into alternatives.

Pharmaceutical giant GSK also told this publication last week that it intended to remove sunset yellow from its flagship Lucozade Energy Original drink. However, the firm said that it has so far been unable to do so “due to technical difficulties”.

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All of the colourings are listed by the European Commission as safe to use, despite efforts by many regulatory authorities to get them removed from formulations.

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