The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it has revoked authorization for FD&C Red No. 3 — a synthetic dye found in thousands of foods and beverages, including candy, cereals, frozen desserts, and sodas.
However, manufacturers have two years to reformulate their products, so many American consumers will likely find Red 3 on their grocery store shelves in the short term.
If Red 3 is so bad, why was it in our food? And just how worried should you be about consuming it? The Cool Down spoke with several independent, nonpartisan experts to learn more.
What is Red 3, and why is it added to food?
Red 3 is one of the synthetic food dyes that give popular American treats their bright colors — like that vibrant pop of cherry red — but it has no nutritional value.
Thomas Galligan is the principal scientist for food additives and supplements at the Center for Science and the Public Interest — an independent nonprofit with more than 50 years of experience advocating for consumer and public health. He called Wednesday's news "a really important win for public health" and explained that substances like Red 3 are "added to our food exclusively to increase their visual appeal."
"So it's a money-making marketing tool for the food industry," he told TCD. "These are not adding any nutrients to the food. They are not preserving the food or otherwise performing any sort of essential function. It's purely just for marketing."
Is Red 3 safe?
Scientists are concerned about Red 3, which is made from petroleum, because they have found a connection between the dye and cancer. The European Union has banned Red 3 in most products since 1994. Even though the FDA just outlawed Red 3 in food products this year, it had already barred the dye in cosmetics and topical medications like ointments for more than 30 years.
"In fact, the FDA itself determined that Red 3 is an animal carcinogen back in 1990, and they have been obligated to ban it ever since," Galligan said in December. "They're obligated under federal law to ban any cancer-causing color or food additive. And they just have failed to do so for now approaching 35 years."
Why did it take so long for the FDA to ban Red 3?
It's difficult to know why it took so long, according to Galligan, but Red 3 likely made its way into our food system through well-intentioned legislation from Congress known as GRAS, or "generally recognized as safe." This provision allows manufacturers to use ingredients like flour, vegetable oil, and vinegar without running into a complex web of regulatory red tape that would negatively impact our food supply.
"What's happened since that provision was put in place in 1958 is that industry has exploited it and turned it into a full-blown loophole where they essentially just can pay their own employees or consultants to declare a new substance as 'generally recognized as safe,' or GRAS, and then … they can simply just put it into our food supply," Galligan said.
Once additives like Red 3 are in circulation, reexamining their approvals isn't necessarily a top priority, according to Consumer Reports director of food policy Brian Ronholm, who told TCD that the FDA "either never had an opportunity to review food additives or the last time they did so was 40-60 years ago."
Petitioning the FDA for change also takes time, but organizations like Galligan's Center for Science and the Public Interest can ramp up the pressure on regulatory bodies in the interest of public health. In the case of Red 3, the petitioning seemed to work. The CSPI and 23 other organizations initially asked the FDA to ban Red 3 back in 2022.
Consumer Reports is now running a new public petition to call for the FDA to ban the remaining six major artificial food dyes, which TCD covered in-depth earlier this month.
"It's a long overdue step by the FDA, and we're really glad that the agency has finally taken this step," Galligan said of the ban on Wednesday. "It's important to note, though, that Red 3 is a symptom of a broader problem. So this is just one step in a long list of steps the FDA needs to take to fully fix the food chemical regulatory system in this country."
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Yes — often 😬 What should consumers do about Red 3?
When California first outlawed Red 3 in 2023, many consumers feared that their favorite snacks would go the way of the dinosaur. Fortunately, it will still be possible to indulge in these treats — they may just look a little bit different. If you've already chowed down on food with Red 3, you're not the only one, but you can avoid products containing it moving forward.
"There should be concern, but consumers shouldn't panic," Ronholm told The Cool Down. "It's unfair that the current regulatory system creates an unfair burden on consumers, but it will require work from consumers to get educated on food additives and identify which ones to avoid."
CSPI's Chemical Cuisine database is one tool that can help consumers identify the safest foods on a scale of "safe," "cut back," "certain people should avoid," "caution," and "avoid."
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