Red Dye # 3 can have deleterious health effects. The cherries are from a canned fruit cocktail sold at the Dollar TreeIsland Choice Diced Fruit Cocktail (cherries have red #3).
Linnea Bullion | The Washington Post | Getty Images
The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it’s banning the use of Red No. 3, a synthetic dye that gives food and drinks their bright red cherry color but has been linked to cancer in animals.
The dye is still used in thousands of foods, including candy, cereals, cherries in fruit cocktails and strawberry-flavored milkshakes, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food safety advocacy group that petitioned the agency in 2022 to end its use.
The FDA’s decision marks a victory for consumer advocacy groups and some U.S. lawmakers who have long urged the FDA to revoke the additive’s approval, citing ample evidence that its use in beverages, dietary supplements, cereals and candies may cause cancer as well as affect children’s behavior.
Food manufacturers will have until Jan. 15, 2027 to reformulate their products. Companies that make ingested drugs, such as dietary supplements, will get an additional year.
“The FDA cannot authorize a food additive or color additive if it has been found to cause cancer in human or animals,” Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy director for human foods, said in a statement. “Evidence shows cancer in laboratory male rats exposed to high levels of FD&C Red No. 3.”
reviewed the possible link between artificial dyes and hyperactivity in children. It determined, however, that no causal relationship could be established.
Although the FDA is now revoking its approval, ending its use nationwide, other states had already taken action.
California as well as 10 other states have already made moves to ban the food dye, according to CSPI.
