Red No. 3 Banned in Food and Medicine Over Cancer Risks

Red (No. 3) dye, an artificial food coloring that gives various sweets, cakes, and some oral pharmaceuticals a cherry-red hue, has been restricted in the United States due to findings that it causes “cancer” in rats in laboratories.

More than thirty years after the Red (No. 3) dye became illegal in cosmetics, the “Food and Drug Administration” has now banned it from food products.

“I don’t see why you would claim that something couldn’t be in cosmetics but that it can be eaten”. Linda Birnbaum, the petitioner and former head of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Toxicology Program, expressed her satisfaction that the National Institute had now taken action that she believes should have been taken years ago.

FDA Cannot Approved

In 2022, a new tab will be opened to analyze research that indicates excessive contact with the chemical can trigger cancer in “male rats”, as part of a campaign by consumer advocacy organizations to prohibit it for a number of years.

“If an ingredient in food or color supplement has been shown to cause cancer in people or pets, the FDA cannot approve it,” stated Jim Jones, Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods.

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Even so, the regulator stated that similar effects were not shown in human and other animal tests, and that the information now available denies reports that the use of the color in food and oral medications risks human health.

Manufacturers of swallowed drugs have until the 18th of January 2028, to conform to the ban, while manufacturers of food items that employ Red (No. 3) have until the 15th of January 2027, to reprocess their goods.

In a latest Senate Committee hearing, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf was subjected to intense questioning by lawmakers on the use of food colors.

According to the trade association National Confectioners Association, “U.S. confectionery companies have food safety as their main concern, and we are going to keep to obey and agree with FDA’s instructions and quality standards.”

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the nation’s top health agency, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has made a number of statements on cutting back on chemicals in food.