Yellow #5...?

Question

Have any other parents here heard their children talk about this?

My sister offered my 12 year old nephew a gatoraid the other day, and he looked at her and rolled his eyes and said, "Hello, Mother, yellow #5?" Then he headed back to the ballfield. So she looks at another youngster there and says, "What?" The slightly older girl told my sister that yellow #5 stunts the growth of their "manly hood." Later her son confirmed that that was what he was referring too. She says obviously this is something that they get enlightened on here in 6th grade. I'm not sure I believe it, but just curious how popular this belief is because I have two sons coming up too.

Answer 1

Back when my boyfriend (now husband) and i was 15, he told me that drinking Mello Yello/Mountain Dew would stunt the growth of a boy down there and when he said that i laughed and said it was a lie and i set out to prove it. I called the 800# on back of the can and they told me that was an urban legend and that it was totally false.
Here is the phone #
1-800-433-2652

Answer 2

There is an urban legend that the tartrazine in Mountain Dew causes shrinkage of testicles. This legend is false; tartrazine has been deemed safe and used since 1917.
But!!!
Tartrazine (otherwise known as E102 or FD&C Yellow 5) is a synthetic lemon yellow azo dye used as a food colouring. It is derived from coal-tar.Use of tartrazine is banned in Norway and was banned in Austria and Germany, before European Parliament and Council Directive 94/36/EC lifted the ban, though it may only be used in certain products

Answer 3

I don't know how true it is but, yellow #5 is used in head and shoulders and a few other shampoos and mellow yellow and mountain dew. Go figure?

Answer 4

What the others said.