I WAS really surprised to read the article 'New Fears Over Food Additives' that appeared on May 8th 2007. This is not a new phenomenon as major studies were carried out in the 1980s that came to the same conclusion that Southampton University have supposedly just discovered.

I have in my possession a book titled E for Additives first published in 1984 and reprinted 12 times in the first year as parents were desperate to get a copy to find out what E numbers to avoid to help improve their children's behaviour.

The depth of feeling about these awful E numbers in food lead to a lot of sweets and other tasty treats having the colourings omitted and were produced looking very insipid and uninspiring to the eye although of course they tasted just the same. The Food Standards Agency must have records of these original findings still on file.

Maybe the idea of this new study is to remind people which E numbers to avoid when thinking about what to feed their children as not all of them are harmful.

Margaret Duff, Southampton.