Yes. Huge difference. Our son will not admit it, of course. He's Mr. Perfect.
But I can tell immediately when he's having a reaction ... his ears turn red, his face breaks out (he's got eczema too), his eyes get red, and he turns into a monster. SO mean and nasty. If it's a tiny bit, he's okay. But if he eats wheat 2 days in a row, watch out.
Milk distends his stomach pretty much right away so he's not so bad with-that. IOW, if he can see an immediate reaction, he'll agree with-us.
Plus, he's learning to like rice milk and almond milk.
I got rid of the dyes for a cpl wks (or was it a month?) when he was younger. Then I gave him a couple of bags of candy ... I think it was Skittles. I sorted them out and left the red for the last day. He asked what I was doing, and when it was time to eat the red ones, he got so upset and scared when I explained what I was doing, he refused to eat any, lol!
That only lasted a yr or so and now he sneaks, but we also use clonidine to calm him down so he'll offer to take a clonidine if he can have wheat and colors. Sigh. He's a born negotiator.
Nothing like adding chemicals on top of chemicals! Something he won't understand until he's middle aged, for sure.
Long story short, yes, it makes a difference.
All kids are different.
However, with-our kids, remember that red dye, for example, may give them a headache or may make them anxious, but instead of expressing it in words, they just blow up. So when you do an elimination diet, you have to observe carefully and try not to react when they blow up.
You have to take it day by day and re-introduce the bad foods one at a time and test them out.
Not fun, but very worth it.
I hope this made sense!
P.S. This is a good topic to consider, with-Valentine's Day coming up.