Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

US Supreme Court Lets Parents Take Kids Out of Classes With LGBT Storybooks

57 minutes ago

In Win for Trump, US Supreme Court Limits Judges’ Power to Block Birthright Citizenship Order

2 hours ago

California’s Newsom Sues Fox News for $787 Million for Defamation Over Trump Call

2 hours ago

Motorcycle Collides With Tractor in Fatal Fresno County Collision

2 hours ago

Fourth of July Celebrations Begin Saturday. Here’s Your Fresno Area Guide

5 hours ago

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

22 hours ago

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

22 hours ago

Cargo Ship That Caught Fire Carrying Electric Vehicles Sinks in the Pacific

1 day ago

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

2 days ago
FDA Bans Red Dye No. 3 From Foods
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 months ago on
January 15, 2025

Pez candy, which contains red dye no. 3, is on display at a store in Lafayette, Calif., March 24, 2023. (AP File)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

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.

Food and Drug Administration 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. More than three decades ago, the FDA declined to authorize use of Red 3 in cosmetics and externally applied drugs because a study showed it caused cancer when eaten by rats.

“The FDA is taking action that will remove the authorization for the use of FD&C Red No. 3 in food and ingested drugs,” said Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods. “Evidence shows cancer in laboratory male rats exposed to high levels of FD&C Red No.3. Importantly, the way that FD&C Red No. 3 causes cancer in male rats does not occur in humans.”

Food Manufactures Have Till January 2027

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.

Consumer advocates praised the decision.

“This is a welcome, but long overdue, action from the FDA: removing the unsustainable double standard in which Red 3 was banned from lipstick but permitted in candy,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, director of the group Center for Science in the Public Interest, which led the petition effort.

It’s not clear whether the ban will face legal challenges from food manufacturers because evidence hasn’t determined that the dye causes cancer when consumed by humans. At a hearing in December, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf suggested that’s a risk.

“When we do ban something, it will go to court,” he told members of Congress on Dec. 5. “And if we don’t have the scientific evidence, we will lose in court.”

When the FDA declined to allow Red 3 in cosmetics and topical drugs in 1990, the color additive was already permitted in foods and ingested drugs. Because research showed then that the way the dye causes cancer in rats does not apply to humans, “the FDA did not take action to revoke the authorization of Red No. 3 in food,” the agency has said on its website.

Health Advocates Have Been Asking for Years

Health advocates for years have asked the FDA to reconsider that decision, including the 2022 petition led by CSPI. In November, nearly two dozen members of Congress sent a letter demanding that FDA officials ban Red 3.

Lawmakers cited the Delaney Clause and said the action was especially important to protect children, who consume more of the dye on a bodyweight basis than adults, the lawmakers said.

“The FDA should act quickly to protect the nation’s youth from this harmful dye, used simply to give food and drinks a bright red color,” the letter said. “No aesthetic reason could justify the use of a carcinogen in our food supply.”

Red 3 is banned for food use in Europe, Australia and New Zealand except in certain kinds of cherries. The dye will be banned in California starting in January 2027.

The International Association of Color Manufacturers defends the dye, saying that it is safe in levels typically consumed by humans. The group points to research by scientific committees operated by the United Nations and the World Health Organization, including a 2018 review that reaffirmed the safety of Red 3 in food.

Some food manufacturers have already reformulated products to remove Red 3. In its place they use beet juice; carmine, a dye made from insects; and pigments from foods such as purple sweet potato, radish and red cabbage, according to Sensient Food Colors, a St. Louis-based supplier of food colors and flavorings.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fourth of July Celebrations Begin Saturday. Here’s Your Fresno Area Guide

DON'T MISS

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

DON'T MISS

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

DON'T MISS

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

DON'T MISS

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

DON'T MISS

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

DON'T MISS

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

DON'T MISS

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

DON'T MISS

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

UP NEXT

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

UP NEXT

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

UP NEXT

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

UP NEXT

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

UP NEXT

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

UP NEXT

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

UP NEXT

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

UP NEXT

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

UP NEXT

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

UP NEXT

Anna Wintour to Step Down From Vogue Editor-in-Chief Role, Media Reports Say

Alleged ‘Fake’ ICE Agents Charged. Fresno Court Date Set

2 hours ago

In Win for Trump, US Supreme Court Limits Judges’ Power to Block Birthright Citizenship Order

2 hours ago

California’s Newsom Sues Fox News for $787 Million for Defamation Over Trump Call

2 hours ago

Motorcycle Collides With Tractor in Fatal Fresno County Collision

2 hours ago

Ringo Is Ready to Rock Your World With ‘Pawsitive’ Vibes!

2 hours ago

Calwa Park Sitting on $7.4M in Grants. Where is New Pool, Other Upgrades?

4 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Teisha Zonnette Thomas

4 hours ago

Fourth of July Celebrations Begin Saturday. Here’s Your Fresno Area Guide

5 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

19 hours ago

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

20 hours ago

US Supreme Court Preserves Key Element of Obamacare

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday preserved a key element of the Obamacare law that helps guarantee that health insurers cover p...

28 minutes ago

Obamacare Sign in San Ysidro, California
28 minutes ago

US Supreme Court Preserves Key Element of Obamacare

Pride Flags Fly in New York
57 minutes ago

US Supreme Court Lets Parents Take Kids Out of Classes With LGBT Storybooks

2 hours ago

Fresno Unified Trustees Will Get Automatic Raises on Tuesday

2 hours ago

Alleged ‘Fake’ ICE Agents Charged. Fresno Court Date Set

Olga Urbina carries baby Ares Webster as demonstrators rally on the day the Supreme Court justices hear oral arguments over U.S. President Donald Trump's bid to broadly enforce his executive order to restrict automatic birthright citizenship, during a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 15, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

In Win for Trump, US Supreme Court Limits Judges’ Power to Block Birthright Citizenship Order

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks to the press after a hearing on the use of National Guard troops amid federal immigration sweeps, at the California State Supreme Court in San Francisco, California, U.S., June 12, 2025. (Reuters FIle)
2 hours ago

California’s Newsom Sues Fox News for $787 Million for Defamation Over Trump Call

fresno
2 hours ago

Motorcycle Collides With Tractor in Fatal Fresno County Collision

Ringo Is GV Wire's Adoptable Pet of the Week, June 27, 2025
2 hours ago

Ringo Is Ready to Rock Your World With ‘Pawsitive’ Vibes!

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend