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I'm sure that children's rights activists will think it cruel and wrong to lie to children, but there is no way I would ever tell mine that black spaghetti is dyed with squid ink. In fact when my son asked me - annoyingly one of his friends' mothers had informed him of the fact - I acted out an Oscar-winning charade of scorn and bemusement. What a ridiculous thing for someone to tell him! The very idea!

I feel better about the deceit when I tell myself that it is highly likely the true culprit is good old-fashioned food colouring. Of course, that makes me feel worse about the health aspect, and I have to remind myself that I was lying anyway... A tangled web - and so appropriate to Hallowe'en.