Cnn
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The Trump administration plans to take action to eliminate artificial food supply of the country on Monday, according to a media notice sent by the United States Ministry of Health and Social Services.
The secretary of the HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration, Marty Makary, will share the administration’s plans more on Tuesday, the opinion said.
In January, when former President Joe Biden was still in office, the FDA announced that it had prohibited the use of red dye n ° 3 in food, drinks and drugs ingested. This decision occurred for more than 30 years after scientists discovered links with cancer in animals.
The Trump administration seems ready to act on a wider set of oil -based synthetic dyes that are used to make food and drinks in bright colors and more attractive for consumers.
In March, Kennedy joined the governor of Virginia-Western Patrick Morrisey to support newly signed legislation aimed at prohibiting certain synthetic dyes in food. The state was the first to institute a radical ban on synthetic food dyes, which have been linked to learning and behavior problems in certain children and of which Kennedy was a frank critic.
Legislators in more than half of the States – led by Republican and Democrat – push to restrict access, according to a tracker of the environmental working group, an environmental health organization for non -profit, reflecting a bipartite thrust towards a safer food system.
Artificial food dyes are not explicitly mentioned in the order of the president forming the commission to “make America again in good health”, but some republican legislators have invoked the “Maha” motto of Kennedy in their proposals.
With a patchwork of bubbling state regulations, industry associations were pressure for a more coherent federal standard.
The National Association of Confectioners said in March that there was a role in states legislators to play in the American food system, but that the FDA is “the legitimate national regulatory decision -maker and the leader of food security”. Some of the associations member of the association sell products containing artificial dyes.
“Food security is the number one priority for American confectionery companies, and we will continue to follow and comply with the FDA advice and security standards,” added the association by e-mail.
John Hewitt, main vice-president of the state affairs of the Consumer Brand Association, echoed this feeling earlier this year, saying that this is why the professional association urged the FDA to “aggressively recognize its responsibility as a food security regulator”.
Governments, researchers and non -profit organizations have long raised concerns about artificial dyes.
Red n ° 3, red n ° 40, blue n ° 2 and green n ° 3 have all been linked to cancer or tumors in animals. Other sources claim that red n ° 40 and yellow n ° 5 and n ° 6 contain or can be contaminated by known carcinogens.
Blue n ° 1 and yellow n ° 6 can also be toxic for certain human cells. And as little as 1 milligram of yellow color n ° 5 can cause irritability, agitation and sleep disorders for sensitive children.
But experts criticized the lack of funding for more research and minimal measures taken by the federal government to regulate dyes.
“It is obvious according to the statements of RFK JR according to which it was going to happen. This is such that non-petroleum substitute colors are available and widely used in other countries by the same companies that sell products here. Companies have promised to wash oil colors for years. “In terms of public health, these are fruit with low collection. I want to see RFK Jr. take ultra-transformed foods, a much more difficult and much more important problem. ”
Food dyes are most often used in low nutritional foods such as candy and soft drinks, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a non -profit consumer defense group. But experts say they can also be found in products that are not visibly colored.
Consumers who want to avoid artificial dyes can check the ingredient lists on food and drinks.
Meg Tirrell of CNN contributed to this report.
