Roommates, The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is cracking down on a popular addition to candy and snacks. According to the associated pressthe agency has decided to ban red dye #3 from the nation’s food supply. Other names for red dye include erythrosine, FD&C Red No. 3, or Red 3.
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Details on the ban on red dye No. 3
The FDA made this decision to honor a 2022 petition that denounced the dangers of the red tint. More than two dozen food safety and health advocates have signed the petition.
However, concerns about red dye date back decades. Concretely, it has been 35 years since No. 3 was authorized in cosmetics. Studies have shown the development of cancer in laboratory rats exposed to the dye. Still, Jim Jones, the agency’s deputy commissioner for human foods, said FD&C Red No. 3 does not cause cancer in humans and rats in the same way.
Nonetheless, the FDA complies with the Delaney Clause, which requires the banning of any substance that may cause cancer in living things. This new ban means that red dye cannot be used in foods, dietary supplements and oral medications, such as cough syrups.
What happens next?
Although the FDA recently announced a ban on red dyes, it gives food manufacturers more time to correct their situation. Manufacturers will have until January 2027 to remove the dyes, while drugmakers will have until January 2028. California has banned the substance starting in January 2027. Even imported products will be subject to the new U.S. requirement. Countries in Europe and Australia have already banned Red 3.
It is unclear whether food manufacturers will oppose the ban, especially in the absence of evidence of carcinogenic effects in humans. However, some manufacturers have already started replacing Red 3 with food pigments from beet juice, purple sweet potato, radish and red cabbage. Carmine, an insect-based dye, was also used.
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