US bans red dye No. 3 from food, candy and medicine

The US has banned using an artificial dye usually added to meals and drinks to offer them a shiny, cherry-red hue.

Producers will not be allowed to make use of the dye, referred to as crimson No 3 or crimson dye 3, after research linked it to most cancers in male laboratory rats, the US Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) introduced on Wednesday.

Whereas regular publicity to the dye is far decrease in people than within the rats within the research, US regulation requires a ban if any hyperlink to most cancers is discovered.

The dye is used primarily in sweet, desserts, cookies, frozen desserts and frosting in addition to some medicines, the company mentioned.

The ban is a results of a petition filed in 2022 by a variety of teams, together with the Heart for Science within the Public Curiosity. They argued the dye ought to be barred due its hyperlinks to most cancers and its widespread use by US shoppers, particularly youngsters.

Crimson No 3 was banned in cosmetics 35 years in the past by the FDA. California additionally banned the additive in meals merchandise in October 2023.

It is restricted in international locations exterior the US, like Australia, New Zealand and the European Union.

The FDA’s ban is “long-delayed”, mentioned the Heart for Science within the Public Curiosity, a US-based a non-profit client advocacy group that has lengthy pushed for the ban.

“In the end, the FDA is ending the regulatory paradox of Crimson 3 being unlawful to be used in lipstick, however completely authorized to feed to youngsters within the type of sweet,” mentioned the group’s president, Dr Peter Lurie, in an announcement on Wednesday.

Meals producers utilizing crimson No 3 can have till January 2027 to reformulate their merchandise, whereas drug producers can have an additional 12 months – till January 2028 – to regulate.

Meals imported into the US additionally must adjust to the brand new ban, the FDA mentioned.

Crimson No 3, also called erythrosine or crimson dye 3, has been utilized in a variety of candies, baked items, fruit merchandise and drinks.

Colored candies – like Pez – embrace the additive as an ingredient. It additionally has been utilized in toaster pastries, maraschino cherries, and a few sodas and fruit-flavoured drinks.

The additive was utilized in cough syrups and gummy nutritional vitamins to offer them a shiny crimson color.

Some producers have already got phased out utilizing the dye of their merchandise, like Dole, which eradicated it from its fruit bowls in 2023.

As an alternative of crimson dye 3, some corporations have began utilizing crimson dye 40, which is taken into account a more healthy different, although one research linked it to a rise in bowel problems in mice.

One other research by the UK’s Meals Requirements Company linked crimson dye 40 to elevated hyperactivity in youngsters. The additive was banned in California faculties as of final 12 months.