FDA, citing cancer link in rats, bans red dye in food, beverages, and drugs — but not until 2027

The Federal Drug Administration has banned Red Dye No. 3 in food, beverages, and drugs after linking the chemical to cancer in rats.

According to a subhead in a recent edition of The New York Times online, consumer and food safety groups "have long urged the agency to revoke the use of this dye and others."

Why it's being banned is still a bit of a mystery since the FDA has also claimed that studies show the dye causes cancer in rats but not humans, says the Times story by Andrew Jacobs and Teddy Rosenbluth. Under federal rules, the FDA "is prohibited from approving food additives that cause cancer in humors or animals."

The FDA action calls for companies to begin removing the dye from their products in 2027, the article notes, "more than three decades after the synthetic coloring was first found to cause cancer in male laboratory rats." In 1990, the agency banned the chemical for use in cosmetics and topical drugs.

The petroleum-based additive has been used to give candy, soda and other products "their vibrant cherry red hue," the Jacobs-Rosenbluth piece explains.

Jim Jones

Jim Jones, the FDA's deputy commissioner for human foods, declares in a statement that claims Red Dye No. 3 "puts people at risk are not supported by the available scientific information."

Thomas Galligan, principal scientist for food additives and supplements at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says "the agency's failure to act sooner was partly the result of industry opposition to a ban, but also reflected chronic underfunding of food safety at the FDA," the Times article reports. And he's quoted as adding, "The FDA has a track record of allowing unsafe chemicals to linger in our food supply long after evidence of harm emerges. And part of the reason for that is that the agency lacks a robust system for reevaluating the safety of chemicals that have already been approved."

According to Jacobs and Rosenbluth, "a big chunk of the blame also falls on Congress for failing to provide the authority and the resources the FDA needs to do its job to protect public health."

Artificial dyes and food additives have been a target for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was nominated big President Trump to be health secretary.

More information about disease-causing agents can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

Three other books of mine are MysteryDates®, a look at how you can keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, an anthology of 70 newspaper columns I wrote; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical children's fantasy about a sorcerer and two fairies that I co-authored with my then 8-year-old granddaughter. Details can be found at https://woodyweingarten.com/.