Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday prohibited use of Red Dye No. 3 in food, drink and medicine, more than three years after the synthetic color was first found to cause cancer in male test mice.
The dye, a petroleum product, was used to give sweets, soft drinks and other products their pink color. Advocates say the FDA’s decision to revoke the authorization is long overdue, given the agency’s 1990 decision to ban the use of cosmetics and skin care products.
Under federal law, the FDA is prohibited from approving foods that cause cancer in humans or animals.
“This is good news and timely,” added Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Action Council, one of several organizations that called for the agency’s decision. long,” “Red Dye 3 is the lowest of the low-hanging fruit when it comes to food poisoning that the FDA needs to address.”
Starting in 2027, companies will have to start removing color from their products. Foreign foods sold in the United States will also have to remove additives.
Although dyes are still used in hundreds of products, many companies have switched to other food colorings, a movement that is accelerating later. California in 2023 became the first state Avoid Red 3 along with three other food supplements that have been linked to disease. The dye has also been linked to health concerns for children.
In announcing the ban, the agency downplayed the risk to humans, saying researchers had not found a similar cancer risk in animal studies. not a rat man. Confirmation that the use of Red Dye No. 3 “in food and in dietary supplements pose human risks not supported by available scientific data,” said Jim Jones, FDA’s director of public health for people, said in a statement.
Sarah Gallo, vice president of product policy and government affairs for the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group, said food and beverage companies will follow the association’s decision. “Withdrawing the authorization to use Red No. 3 is an example of the FDA using its risk management and research to review the safety of products on the market,” he said.
First approved for use in food in 1907, Red Dye No. 3 was banned from cosmetic use in the 1990s by US regulators. At the time, FDA said an industry-leading study found that the drug caused thyroid cancer in male rats but predicted that it may cause cancer less than one in 100,000 people. With the prohibition of color in cosmetics, the organization promise to do the same with food.
It is already banned from food in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, with an exception: maraschino cherries.
Although many food manufacturers have obtained attractive dyes, including those extracted from beets, red cabbage and insects, Red Dye No. 3 is also available in customer ratings, eg candy corn, yellow rice, mashed potatoes and children eat food shakes. Consumers can check whether products contain dyes at the US Department of Agriculture branded food database and others created from the Environmental Working Group.
Artificial dyes and food additives has been a key target for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for health secretary whose recommendations before the Senate will begin soon soon
Although health advocates and consumers applauded the agency’s decision to ban Red Dye No. 3, they said that the delay over several years highlighted the shortcomings in the government’s oversight of food supplements.
Thomas Galligan, chief scientist for nutrition and supplements at Center for Science in the Public Interestsaid that the agency’s failure to work quickly is part of the industry’s anti-restriction, but also related to complaints about food safety at the FDA.
“The FDA has a track record of allowing harmful chemicals to remain in our food supply long after evidence of harm has occurred,” he said. “And part of the reason for that is that the agency doesn’t have the power to reevaluate the safety of drugs that have been approved.”
He added, “A large part of the blame still falls on Congress for not giving the FDA the authority and resources it needs to do its job to protect public health.”
According to the agency, more than 200,000 pounds of red 3 will be used in food and medicine in 2021. The agency advises consumers to avoid the number dyes, among them are Yellow 5 and Red 40 , which are both produced from petroleum.
The FDA has acknowledged weaknesses in its oversight. Last year, the organization announce a reorganization of its human nutrition programs to be more robust to address security and health challenges in food and agriculture.
Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Customer Guidewho last year submitted a petition to the FDA calling for a ban on Red Dye No. 3, said that there are still scores of other food additives in the country’s food.
He said, “There are many synthetic chemicals allowed in food but have not been reviewed for safety by the FDA in decades despite recent studies that have linked the chemicals to great health,” he said. “It’s time for the FDA to catch up on new research and get these harmful chemicals out of our food.”