U.S. regulators on Wednesday banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation’s food supply, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk, the Associated Press reports. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials granted a 2022 petition filed by two dozen food safety and health advocates, who urged the agency to revoke authorization for the substance that gives some candies, snack cakes, and maraschino cherries a bright red hue.
The agency said it was taking the action as a “matter of law” because some studies have found that the dye caused cancer in lab rats. Officials cited a statute known as the Delaney Clause, which requires FDA to ban any additive found to cause cancer in people or animals.
The dye is known as erythrosine, FD&C Red No. 3, or Red 3. The ban removes it from the list of approved color additives in foods, dietary supplements, and oral medicines such as cough syrups.
Food manufacturers will have until January 2027 to remove the dye from their products, while makers of ingested drugs have until January 2028 to do the same. Other countries still allow for certain uses of the dye, but imported foods must meet the new U.S. requirement.
It’s not clear whether the ban will face legal challenges from food manufacturers; evidence hasn’t determined that the dye causes cancer when consumed by humans.
