The Food and Drug Administration is (finally) making moves to ban the synthetic food coloring Red No. 3.
As Food & Wine reports, last week, Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods, shared with the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that it’s likely time to reevaluate the safety of red food dye. “With Red 3, we have a petition in front of us to revoke the authorization board, and we’re hopeful that in the next few weeks, we’ll be acting on that petition,” he stated.
Red No. 3, which is made from petroleum, is found in a variety of foods, including candies and beverages, giving it that neon-red look. “The vibrant colors are important to our industry,” Christopher Gindlesperger of the National Confectioners Association shared with NPR in 2023.
The carcinogenic dye has already been famously banned in the state of California. As Food & Wine previously reported in 2023, lawmakers in the state passed the bill that will go into effect in 2027 and bar ingredients like Red No. 3 — a synthetic dye that has long been banned across Europe.
“We know they are harmful and that children are likely being exposed at a much higher rate than adults,” Susan Little, senior advocate for California government affairs at the activist organization Environmental Working Group, shared in a statement at the time. “It makes no sense that the same products food manufacturers sell in California are sold in the EU but without these toxic chemicals. Our kids need to be protected, too.”
And really, it wouldn’t be a massive shift, considering the FDA banned the use of Red dye No. 3 in cosmetics in the early ‘90s after lab testing showed it caused cancer in mice. (If companies continue to use these chemicals, they will be fined $5,000 for the first offense and up to $10,000 for every subsequent offense.) A 2007 study also showed it has a link to hyperactivity in children.
“The evidence now shows pretty conclusively that when some kids eat these, they will experience nervous system effects that look like ADHD,” Thomas Galligan, a scientist who focuses on food additives at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, shared with NPR. “There are 27 human clinical trials that show these dyes do in fact harm children’s behavior.”
The potential ban also has the strong support of Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. from New Jersey. “There is simply no reason for this chemical to be in our food except to entice and mislead consumers by changing the color of their food so it looks more appealing,” Pallone wrote in a statement. “With the holiday season in full swing where sweet treats are abundant, it is frightening that this chemical remains hidden in these foods that we and our children are eating. While food companies must ensure that the food they market is safe, they are also only required to ensure that their products meet FDA’s standards. This means that thousands of products that contain this chemical can remain on the market.”
However, the FDA may find pushback from food industry leaders, including the maraschino cherry industry, which the Center for Science in the Public Interest explained, pressured the agency into keeping the dye available when it attempted to ban it in the 1980s. To this day, the FDA maintains that the dyes are safe “when used in accordance with FDA regulations.”
Still, as Galligan shared with NBC News, “These food dyes only serve one function in food, to make them look pretty, so you and I want to buy it. It’s a marketing tool.”
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