Food safety advocates cheered the news that U.S. regulators are banning Red No. 3 — and said they don’t anticipate any hiccups in quickly removing the artificial dye from America’s grocery shelves.
Red No. 3 gives thousands of foods, beverages and sweets their cherry-red hue. On Wednesday, following decades of concerns over the additive’s safety, the Food and Drug Administration announced it would ban its use starting in 2027.
Those who petitioned to have Red No. 3 prohibited said there’s no reason why it can’t be taken out of products sooner. It has long been banned in the European Union and some other countries, meaning many companies that sell foods and beverages overseas already have recipes that they can easily swap in for American consumers.
In addition, in 2023, California became the first state to pass a law forbidding Red No. 3 from products sold there. That ban, also set to take effect in 2027, has been expected to have a nationwide effect on manufacturers, which were unlikely to reformulate recipes just for Californians.
“Companies have been on alert over this,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, president and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group that petitioned the FDA in 2022 to end the use of Red No. 3. “They’ve had plenty of time to think through this problem and to come up with alternatives.”
According to the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy health organization that joined the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s petition, Red No. 3 is in approximately 3,000 products sold in the United States, including store-bought baked goods, seasonal candies, strawberry meal replacement shakes and more.
First approved for use in food more than a century ago, Red No. 3 is made from petroleum and was banned from cosmetics in 1990 after a study found evidence that the dye caused cancer in rats exposed to it at high doses. It was allowed to remain in food, however, even as places such as the E.U. banned it in 1994 (except in cocktail cherries) and as evidence grew that it was carcinogenic to animals.
Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat who introduced the California legislation that banned Red No. 3 in his state, said outlawing the colorant won’t result in any products being removed from U.S. supermarkets. He said it would just require minor recipe reformulations, many of which are already being implemented in other countries.
“There are many readily available natural alternatives. The companies know this,” he said. “They’re making the same versions of products we know and love here in the United States in other countries, without the harmful dyes.”
Common alternatives to synthetic red food dyes include beet juice and pomegranate juice — natural options that companies have shied away from because they perceive them as more costly, said consumer protection and environmental attorney Vineet Dubey, of the Los Angeles-based Custodio & Dubey LLP law firm.
“It’s cheaper to use these artificial dyes. That’s why these companies use them,” he said. “And if they’re allowed to do so in the interest of profits, they’re going to use the cheapest material.”
But Gabriel said research for his legislation concluded otherwise.
“As we presented this bill, working it through the Legislature, we actually showed that in most cases, the safer ingredients are actually cheaper,” he said. “We don’t expect the price of any food to increase.”
Food manufacturers said they would comply with the FDA’s ban on Red No. 3. Ferrara, the maker of Brach candy corn, which contains Red No. 3, said that it began phasing out the dye in early 2023 and that less than 10% of its portfolio of products currently have it.
“We are on track to eliminate the food coloring from remaining products by the end of 2026,” Ferrara said in an email. “All of our products are safe to consume and are manufactured using only FDA-approved ingredients.”
Just Born, the maker of the Easter marshmallow candy Peeps, said it stopped using Red No. 3 after last Easter.
“Just Born has always evolved with new developments and consumer preferences. We have removed Red #3 from all PEEPS products,” it said in an email Wednesday to NBC News.
The Consumer Brands Association, a trade group, said food safety is the top priority for companies, adding in a statement from senior vice president of product policy and federal affairs Sarah Gallo that “food and beverage companies will continue to follow the latest science and comply with all food safety regulations to ensure safe and available choices for consumers.”
The International Association of Color Manufacturers, which represents the color additives industry, maintained that Red No. 3 was safe for consumption, arguing in a statement that the ban was based on evidence of cancer in animals, not people. Nonetheless, the FDA says it cannot authorize food additives that have been found to cause cancer in either humans or animals.
The FDA is not prohibiting other artificial dyes that have been associated with separate health concerns, such as hyperactivity and behavioral issues in children, including Red 40. Lurie said there is a possibility that some manufacturers simply swap Red No. 3 for Red 40.
Regardless, removing Red No. 3 is a “big win” for consumers, said Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group.
“This shouldn’t be hard for companies to do,” she said.
“Many of the same multinational food companies that produce products in the U.S. are also selling in Europe and have found ways to comply with the ban in Europe and still sell brightly colored red foods that are attractive in those markets, and have managed to do it without Red 3,” she added.
