The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the use of Red Dye No. 3, a synthetic food coloring commonly added to give foods a bright red cherry color, citing potential cancer risks.
The current FDA decision to ban the use of the controversial dye in foods, beverages, oral drugs, and dietary supplements comes nearly 35 years after it prohibited the use of the same in cosmetics due to cancer risks found in animal studies.
“The FDA is revoking the authorization for the use of FD&C Red No. 3 based on the Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). The Delaney Clause, enacted in 1960 as part of the Color Additives Amendment to the FD&C Act, prohibits FDA authorization of a food additive or color additive if it has been found to induce cancer in humans or animals,” the FDA news release stated.
Despite being banned in topical drugs and cosmetics since 1990 due to its cancer-causing effects in rats, three decades later, Red Dye No. 3 is still found in thousands of popular products, including candies, snacks, and fruit-flavored items, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a leading food safety advocacy group that petitioned the FDA to fully ban its use in 2022.
“All Americans deserve foods free from harmful food additives. Removing Red 3 and other unsafe, unnecessary food chemicals from our food supply is a critical step for protecting consumers. We hope to see FDA and Congress act soon to reform the broken federal regulatory systems that have allowed unsafe chemicals to enter and stay in our food supply for so long,” said CSPI’s Principal Scientist for Additives and Supplements Thomas Galligan.
The FDA previously investigated a potential link between artificial dyes, including Red No. 3, and hyperactivity in children. Although the committee convened in 2011 did not find a direct cause-and-effect relationship, their report concluded: “Artificial food colors are not a main cause of ADHD, but they may contribute significantly to some cases, and in some cases may additively push a youngster over the diagnostic threshold.”
Following the current ban, manufacturers who include Red No. 3 in food and medications still have time until Jan. 15, 2027, for food products, and Jan. 18, 2028, for drugs, to reformulate their products.
Red No. 3 in Your Favorite Foods: Here’s What You Might Be Eating
Red No. 3, now under fire, is hiding in more products than you might think. Many seasonal treats, like Pez Candy, Sixlets, Candy Corn, Ring Pops, and dyed marshmallows, popular during Halloween and Valentine’s Day, contain this food additive. But it does not stop there—Red No. 3 is also found in everyday items such as certain brands of maraschino cherries, frozen desserts, Yoo-hoo strawberry flavored drinks, Good Humor strawberry shortcake bars, cough syrups, cough drops, gummy vitamins, and even some snack cakes, frostings, and cookies decorated with red icing.
And the list does not end here. According to the CSPI, a search of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Branded Foods Database revealed a staggering 9,201 food products that contain Red No. 3, many of them from some of the largest food companies in the country.
