What foods contain red coloring no. 3? What to know about the new FDA ban

For more than a century, food and drug manufacturers have added a synthetic chemical to candies, pills, shakes and more to color them a bright cherry red.

This will end soon. The Food and Drug Administration this week banned the use of red dye No. 3 in foods, citing concerns that the common dye could cause cancer in rats. Drugmakers who use red dye No. 3 have until January 18, 2028 to reformulate their products; food manufacturers have until January 15, 2027.

“It’s an important first step for the United States, but frankly, we’re really overdue,” said Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington who studies environmental exposures that affect children’s health. children. The European Union, Australia and New Zealand have banned most uses of Red Color No. 3 in foods.

Here’s what you need to know.

Why did the FDA ban red dye #3?

The FDA first allowed food manufacturers to use red dye No. 3 in 1907. But in 1958, Congress passed a regulation that prevents the agency from approving foods or color additives that could cause cancer in animals or humans.

Scientists and public interest groups have been concerned about the dye for decades. The FDA even banned Red Dye #3 from cosmetics like lipsticks and medications applied to the skin in 1990, after industry-funded research found that it caused thyroid cancer in people. the rat. But its use as an additive in foods and medicines was still permitted.

In 2022, several public interest groups called on the FDA to revoke its authorization of Red Dye No. 3 and pointed to studies showing that male laboratory rats exposed to high levels of the chemical developed cancer of the eye. thyroid.