The USA Federal Foods and Drugs Administration banned Red Dye No.3 after decades of long legal efforts. Food additives have become controversial subjects in the food, drug, and cosmetic industries over the last few years. Many additives have shown a cancer-causing impact on animals, and after this finding, health and environmental advocacy groups raised their voices against the use of food additives and dyes in foods and drugs.
Red Dye No. 3 is used in beverages, candies, ice creams, drugs, cocktail cherries, strawberries, milkshakes, etc., to give foods and beverages a cherry-red colour. The research first made lawmakers and public activists aware that red dye No.3 is linked to cancer in animals.
The FDA now bans Red Dye No.3, but the ban’s effect will come into motion on 15 January 2027 for foods and beverages and on January 18, 2028, for drugs. The FDA is giving manufacturers time to reformulate their products’ manufacturing procedures.
What is Red Dye No.3 and Why did the FDA Ban it?
Red Dye No.3 is used in Food, beverages, and ingested drugs. It is the food addititives made from petroleum and chemically known as Erythrosine, Red Dye No. 3 is used to give foods and beverages a bright red cherry colour. FDA approved its use in foods, drugs, and cosmetics after the initial lab studies in animals, not humans in 1969.
The additive’s qualities and safety measures evaluated by FDA multiple times, as many health experts raise concerns over its use in foods and beverages. But in 1990 lab tests confirmed that carcinogenic substances were found in rats when Red Dye No.3 was used in high doses.
Delaney Clause That Ban The Use of Red Dye No.3 on Cosmetics
After the confirmation in 1990 by the lab that Red Dye No.3 uses causes cancer in animals but not proven in humans. The FDA put forward with the Delaney Clause a provision under the USA Food, Drugs, and Cosmetic Act, that prohibits the FDA from revoking the use of any color additives that cause cancer in humans and animals if ingested.
However the FDA at that time banned the use of Red Dye No.3 on cosmetics and topical drugs but it didn’t ban the food and beverage companies from using Red Dye No.3, causing the chemical procedure that caused cancer in animals that mechanism not present in Humans.
Why FDA End the Red Dye No.3 Use in Foods and Beverages?
Many research has been conducted in the lab that already proves it’s a significant impact on rats to cause cancer, but there is still no research are there to prove the human pathological link of it.
However, the November 2022 Petition submitted by multiple advocacy organizations and individuals, including the Centre For Science in the Public Interest and Environmental Working Group cited the link of cancer cause on humans.
FDA after the petition move forward with its stance that Red Dye No.3 was banned from all foods, beverages, and drugs due to health concerns.
California already banned the use of dye in October 2023.
You Should Stop Using the Red Dye No.3 Contain Foods and Drugs
For health concerns people and every single American avoid those foods, beverages, and drugs that contain Red Dye No.3 and other colour additives including Yellow No.5 and Red No. 40.
Many of the food additives also link with speech and developmental disorders in children. In USA California and 10 other states already ban the use of Red Dye No.3.
FDA released a statement that recommends all companies label Red Dye No.3 in their ingredient lists, so people should be aware of it when they buy any products label with the concerning dye
Artificial food colorings are mostly found in ultra-processed foods, so Americans avoid eating ultra-processed foods that serve carcinogenic substances in their platters. Centre for Science Public Research alerted the parents to avoid the use of ultra-processed foods among their children.
For medication purposes, you should avoid any drugs that contain colour addtives on their labels instead of using them on your products.