The Food and Drug Administration decided red dye No. 3 (Red 3) will no longer be allowed in American food and medicine on Jan. 15, according to the FDA’s website.
The color additive, used in some desserts and medications, caused cancer in rats when exposed to large quantities in two studies, according to the FDA. The way Red 3 causes cancer in rats, however, does not in humans.
According to the Center For Science in the Public Interest, candies like SweeTARTS and Fruit by the Foot use Red 3, and the ADHD medication Vyvanse contains it as well.
According to the FDA, Red 3 was banned because of the Delaney Clause, which prohibits the approval of color additives that cause cancer in either humans or animals.
Joanne Slavin, a food science and nutrition professor at the University of Minnesota, said Red 3 was approved as a color additive in 1906 when regulations were less strict.
California banned the dye in October 2023 which caused the FDA to reevaluate whether the dye should be included in American food. They used the previous studies on rats to guide the decision, Slavin said.
“What moved this forward is once California banned Red 3, then the FDA was kind of in a bad spot because you can have states with different laws because that makes it impossible to have food that crosses state lines,” Slavin said. “It does force their hand to ban it.”
Many companies, like Peep’s parent company Just Born, started phasing out Red 3 after California banned the additive, Slavin said.
While there is data stating Red 3 is carcinogenic in rats, there is no evidence it causes behavioral problems in children as some people believe, Slavin said.
“When you’re eating red frosting, you’re also eating a lot of saturated fat, and you’re also eating a lot of added sugar,” Slavin said. “So if kids are having behavioral issues when they eat too many candies or desserts or pop, is it the food coloring, or is it other things in the food, or is it their dietary pattern? There really wasn’t any new data that says this stuff is risky and making kids have any type of allergies or behavioral issues. We can’t prove that.”
Slavin said people generally do not consume Red 3 regularly because of the food it is usually used in.
“It’s Valentine’s Day, people are going to want a red dye for frosting,” Slavin said. “But how much frosting do you eat? A lot of people don’t eat much, so exposure should be really limited.”
The FDA said companies will have until Jan. 15, 2027, to remove Red 3 from food recipes and until Jan. 18, 2028, for medicine.
While Red 3 does not pose a big concern for overall human health, Job Ubbink, a professor of food science and nutrition at the University, said it is still good practice to play it safe with color additives.
If you want to avoid Red 3 in your food, Ubbink said to read the labels of the food you buy to find alternative products.
“My take on it is better be safe than sorry,” Ubbink said. “It’s not a vitamin, it’s not something essential, it’s something to give it a nice color, so it’s not very essential for nutrition, it’s just nice to have.”
