The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Wednesday it will ban Red No. 3, a common artificial food dye linked to cancer.
The dye, which the FDA banned for cosmetics and topical drugs in 1990 after it was found to promote tumor growth in rats, is widely used in hundreds of products ranging from candies to ADHD medications. The move precedes the Senate’s decision on confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an opponent of food dyes, as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“Red No. 3 is a synthetic food dye that gives foods and drinks a bright, cherry-red color … Red No. 3 has been primarily used in certain food products, such as candy, cakes and cupcakes, cookies, frozen desserts, and frostings and icings, as well as certain ingested drugs,” the FDA wrote in an official statement.
Today, the FDA is issuing an order to revoke the authorization for the use of FD&C Red No. 3 in food and ingested drugs in response to a 2022 color additive petition that requested the agency to review whether the Delaney Clause applied. https://t.co/Qd0NFOIUz8 pic.twitter.com/Bpr6XNC8OR
— U.S. FDA Human Foods Program (@FDAfood) January 15, 2025
The decision follows a 2022 petition submitted by several health advocacy organizations, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest, urging the agency to ban Red No. 3 based on studies linking the dye to cancer. The FDA stated that the dangers associated with Red No. 3 in rats are less concerning in humans.
“Two studies that showed cancer in laboratory male rats exposed to high levels of FD&C Red No. 3 due to a rat specific hormonal mechanism,” the FDA statement reads. “The way that FD&C Red No. 3 causes cancer in male rats does not occur in humans. Relevant exposure levels to FD&C Red No. 3 for humans are typically much lower than those that cause the effects shown in male rats.”
Kennedy has long opposed the use of food dyes and other artificial ingredients, such as seed oils. The aspirant HHS secretary said banning dyes like Red No. 3 would be the “first thing” he would do if he joined the second Trump administration.
“The first thing I’d do isn’t going to cost you anything because I’m just gonna tell the cereal companies, take all the dyes out of their food,” Kennedy said during an October appearance on “Fox & Friends.”
The FDA said food and ingested drug manufacturers have until Jan. 15, 2027 and Jan. 18, 2028, respectively, to reformulate their products without the dye.
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