The news that U.S. regulators are outlawing Red No. 3 was welcomed by food safety advocates, who said they don’t expect any delays in the swift removal of the artificial pigment from American supermarket shelves.
Red No. 3 is responsible for the cherry-red color of hundreds of dishes, drinks, and confections. The Food and Drug Administration declared on Wednesday that it would outlaw the use of the chemical beginning in 2027, ending decades of worries about its safety.
There is no reason why Red No. 3 can’t be removed from products sooner, according to those who petitioned to have it banned. Since it has been prohibited for a long time in the European Union and other nations, many businesses that sell food and drinks abroad already have recipes that they can simply adapt for American customers.
Additionally, California was the first state to enact legislation prohibiting the sale of Red No. 3 items in 2023. Since manufacturers were unlikely to reformulate recipes specifically for Californians, the prohibition, which is also scheduled to go into force in 2027, was predicted to have a nationwide impact.
According to Dr. Peter Lurie, president and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy organization that petitioned the FDA to ban Red No. 3 in 2022, businesses have been on high alert because of this. They’ve had plenty of time to consider this issue and develop potential solutions.
The Environmental Working Group, a health advocacy and research group that joined the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s petition, claims that Red No. 3 is present in about 3,000 products that are sold in the US, such as store-bought baked goods, seasonal candies, shakes that replace strawberry meal, and more.
Red No. 3, a petroleum-based dye that was first authorized for use in food over a century ago, was outlawed from cosmetics in 1990 after a study revealed that rats exposed to high concentrations of the dye developed cancer. However, despite regions like the European Union banning it in 1994 (save for cocktail cherry) and mounting evidence that it causes cancer in animals, it was permitted to stay in food.
The Democrat who authored the California law that outlawed Red No. 3 in his state, Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, stated that banning the colorant would not lead to the removal of any products from American supermarkets. He said that only modest recipe reformulations would be needed, many of which are currently being used in other nations.
There are plenty of easily accessible natural substitutes. “The companies are aware of this,” he stated. In other nations, they are producing identical items to those we are familiar with in the US, but without the dangerous dyes.
Beet juice and pomegranate juice are common natural substitutes for synthetic red food dyes, but businesses have avoided them because they believe they are more expensive, according to consumer protection and environmental lawyer Vineet Dubey of the Los Angeles-based Custodio & Dubey LLP law firm.
Using these artificial dyes is less expensive. He stated that’s why these businesses use them. And they will employ the least expensive material if they are permitted to do so in order to maximize earnings.
Research for his legislation, however, came to a different conclusion, according to Gabriel.
“We demonstrated that, in the majority of cases, the safer ingredients are actually less expensive as we presented this bill and worked it through the Legislature,” he said. We don’t anticipate any food prices going up.
Food producers promised to abide by the FDA’s Red No. 3 restriction. The manufacturer of Red No. 3-containing Brach candy corn, Ferrara, stated that it started to phase out the dye in early 2023 and that it is currently present in less than 10% of its product line.
Ferrara stated in an email that we are on pace to remove food coloring from the remaining goods by the end of 2026. All of our goods are made with just FDA-approved ingredients and are safe to eat.
Red No. 3 was no longer used after last Easter, according to Just Born, the company that makes the Easter marshmallow confection Peeps.
Just Born has always changed to reflect new trends and customer tastes. Red #3 has been taken out of all PEEPS products, the company informed NBC News via email on Wednesday.
According to a statement from Sarah Gallo, senior vice president of product policy and federal affairs for the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group, food safety is the top priority for businesses. To guarantee that consumers have safe and accessible options, food and beverage companies will continue to adhere to all food safety regulations and the most recent scientific findings.
In a statement, the International Association of Color Manufacturers, which advocates for the color additives sector, said that Red No. 3 was safe to eat and that the prohibition was founded on evidence of cancer in animals rather than humans. However, according to the FDA, food additives that have been shown to cause cancer in humans or animals cannot be approved.
Red 40 and other artificial dyes that have been linked to distinct health risks, like hyperactivity and behavioral problems in kids, are not prohibited by the FDA. Some manufacturers might just replace Red No. 3 with Red 40, according to Lurie.
According to Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs of the Environmental Working Group, consumers will benefit greatly from the removal of Red No. 3.
Companies shouldn’t have any trouble doing this, she said.
In order to comply with the European ban and continue to sell vibrant red foods that are appealing in those markets, many of the same multinational food firms that manufacture goods in the United States have also discovered ways to sell in Europe without using Red 3, she added.