In 2007, synthetic color additives again came under scrutiny following publication of a study conducted by
the University of Southampton (Southampton study) in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and published in
The Lancet. This six-week study was commissioned by the U.K. Food Standards Agency (FSA). The study was intended to investigate whether certain color additive mixtures and the preservative, sodium benzoate,
when consumed in a beverage, cause hyperactivity in three-year-old and eight and nine-year-old children