The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday, Jan. 15, banned a common food additive called red dye No. 3 from products that Americans eat and drink, including ingested medications.
This comes after two dozen food and safety advocates filed a 2022 petition urging the FDA to revoke authorization for the substance that gives some popular candies, snack cakes and other products their bright red color.
The FDA ban has prompted multiple claims and questions from people online. One viral social media post claims red dye No. 3 was banned from cosmetics more than 30 years ago. Other people also want to know which food products contain the additive, Google Trends data show.
We VERIFIED the answers to four of the top questions about red dye No. 3 and the FDA ban.
THE SOURCES
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- The Delaney Clause
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Amanda Beaver, a wellness dietitian at Houston Methodist
- Ingredients lists for various products containing red dye No. 3
- 1990 FDA notice banning red dye No. 3 for use in cosmetics and topical drugs
- The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit watchdog and consumer advocacy group
QUESTION #1
Is red dye No. 3 a common ingredient in popular food products?
THE ANSWER
There are many popular food products, including candies, icings and nutrition shakes, that contain red dye No. 3.
The easiest way to tell if a product contains the substance is to search for words like Red 3, red dye No. 3, FD&C Red No. 3 or erythrosine on its nutrition or ingredients label. That’s because the FDA requires food manufacturers to list all ingredients on their product labels.
According to Beaver, food products that may contain red dye No. 3 include some fruit cocktails, candy corns, protein shakes, ice pops, sausages, lollipops, pudding, vegetarian meats, bacon bits, strawberry milk, jellybeans and other candies, and colored beverages.
VERIFY also looked at the ingredient lists for various food products to see if they include red dye No. 3.
Brach’s lists Red 3 as an ingredient in its Conversation Hearts and candy corn. Pez also lists Red 3 as an ingredient in the candies.
However, some other popular candies with red coloring, such as Skittles and Swedish Fish, don’t contain red dye No. 3. These candies list a synthetic dye called Red 40 on their ingredients lists, which is a different color additive that the FDA has not banned.
Candies aren’t the only products that may contain red dye No. 3. For example, Ensure’s Original Strawberry Nutrition Shake and Nesquik Strawberry Milk contain Red 3, according to their ingredients list. At least one type of red icing from Betty Crocker also lists Red 3 as one of its ingredients.
QUESTION #2
Is there evidence that red dye No. 3 causes cancer in humans?
THE ANSWER
There’s no evidence that red dye No. 3 causes cancer in humans.
The FDA said it revoked its authorization of red dye No. 3 “as a matter of law” because some studies found it caused cancer in lab rats. The agency cited one section of a 1958 federal law known as the Delaney Clause, which prohibits FDA authorization of food or color additives that have been found to cause cancer in humans or animals.
According to the FDA, data presented in the 2022 petition from food and safety advocates show red dye No. 3 caused cancer in male lab rats exposed to high levels of the substance “because of a hormonal mechanism.”
Specifically, studies have found high doses of red dye No. 3 can cause thyroid cancer in male rats, Amanda Beaver, a wellness dietitian at Houston Methodist, said in an article published by the hospital prior to the FDA announcing its ban.
But there’s no evidence that red dye No. 3 causes cancer in humans, the FDA said, adding that “studies in other animals and humans did not show the same effect” as those on male lab rats.
Beaver agrees, saying “there have not been studies showing that [red dye No. 3] causes thyroid cancer in humans,” though the FDA does list the substance as an animal carcinogen.
QUESTION #3
Was red dye No. 3 banned from cosmetics decades before the FDA banned it from food?
THE ANSWER
Red dye No. 3 was banned from cosmetics decades before the FDA banned it from food.
The FDA approved the use of red dye No. 3 in food and ingestible medications in 1969. But in 1990, the FDA banned its use in cosmetics such as lipsticks and drugs that people don’t ingest.
The agency made that decision in response to a petition requesting that it authorize the use of red dye No. 3 in cosmetics and topical drugs. As part of that process, the petitioner had to provide data that supported safe use of the color additive, the FDA said.
The FDA ultimately banned the substance only in cosmetics and topical drugs due to data showing it caused cancer in rats.
Advocates have called on the FDA for years to ban the use of red dye No. 3 in food and other ingested products, and Houston Methodist says the federal agency claimed it would work to do so. It took over 30 years for any movement to occur in the effort to more widely ban the use of red dye No. 3.
In 2022, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), along with other organizations and scientists, petitioned the FDA to ban all remaining uses of red dye No. 3, the CSPI said. The FDA acted on that petition in January 2025 when the agency announced its ban on red dye No. 3 in food and ingested medications.
The European Union has largely banned the use of red dye No. 3 in food since 1994, according to CSPI.
QUESTION #4
Will the ban on red dye No. 3 take effect right away?
THE ANSWER
The FDA ban on red dye No. 3 will not take effect right away. That means you’ll still see products that contain the food additive on store shelves over the next several years.
When the FDA announced the ban, the agency said manufacturers who use the ingredient in food and ingested drugs “will have until Jan. 15, 2027 or Jan. 18, 2028, respectively, to reformulate their products.”
You could still see red dye No. 3 as an ingredient in food or drugs on the market if those products were manufactured before the effective dates, the FDA says.
California’s own ban on four food additives, including red dye No. 3, will take effect in 2027, VERIFY previously reported.