The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday it was banning Red 3 dye from food and beverages in the U.S. over its link to cancer in laboratory animals.
Officials said there was no evidence the dye, which gives items a bright cherry color, caused cancer in humans, but had its hands tied by a law banning additives that cause cancer in humans or animals.
“The Delaney Clause is clear; the FDA cannot authorize a food additive or color additive if it has been found to cause cancer in humans or animals. Evidence shows cancer in laboratory male rats exposed to high levels of FD&C Red No. 3,” Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods, said.
Several consumer advocacy groups have also argued the dye affects children’s behavior, but an FDA review in 2011 could not find a link between the dye and hyperactivity or inattention.
Food brands will have until 2027 to remove the food coloring. Drug companies will have until the next year. It had previously been banned from use in cosmetics in 1990.
Red 3 can be found in candy products like Jelly Belly’s Candy Corn and Ring Pop’s strawberry and berry blast flavors. Del Monte cherry mixed fruit cups, Vigo saffron yellow rice, Pillsbury’s birthday cake cookie dough, Nesquik strawberry milk and Tylenol PM also contain the additive.
Peeps previously used the dye but stopped following its last production run of 2024.
It first came under fire when a study from the 1980s found male rats developed tumors after being exposed to the dye in high doses.
“It removes an unnecessary hazard from the American food supply, and we welcome that action, even though it should have occurred more than three decades ago,” Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said.
The dye had already been banned in California. Several states, including New York and New Jersey, have introduced legislation to ban it.