CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — A popular and colorful additive is on its way out of the foods some enjoy — and dieticians say it’s for the best. On Wednesday, the FDA announced a future nationwide ban on the synthetic food coloring known as Red Dye 3. The additive is in thousands of products, including candies and certain medicines.

“The FDA is doing its job and just removing that potential harm from consumers,” said Rachel Mannen, a dietician and nutrition wellness education for four Central Illinois counties through U of I Extension.

The action is due to the food coloring’s link to cancer in lab animals. The FDA acted based on the Delaney Clause, requiring them to pull additives that are found to be cancerous to animals. One Champaign-based dietician I talked to says this ban is the right move.

“Based off the studies, it seems like the FDA is doing what they’re supposed to do,” Mannen said.

About 35 years after it was banned from cosmetic use, Red Dye 3 will soon be pulled from U.S. consumers entirely.

“Based off the studies that are done in rats, it’s been shown to cause cancer,” Mannen said.

Specifically, the data shows high levels of Red Dye 3 cause thyroid cancer in male lab rats.
The dye is added to hundreds of food brands to give products a distinct red coloring.

“There’s been a lot of political groups formed, and they also banned it for cosmetics previously,” Mannen said. “So it was just kind of a matter of time before they had banned it from our food.”

The dye has appeared in thousands of foods and drugs, most notably in some cereals, candies like candy corn and Dubble Bubble gum, and even in some cake dough and frostings.
But it’s also in medicines like acetaminophen.

“For example, if you wanted a cherry lollipop and they have this red dye to it to make it look more like a cherry rather than if they didn’t have the red dye, it might just be white. So people might not believe that it was actually cherry-flavored or might not be appealing to them visually,” Mannen added.

It’ll be a couple of years before it’s off labels entirely, but Mannen’s advice is to be conscious of what you consume.

“Most of the foods that it’s in are already ones that we should be limiting anyway on those candies and sweets,” Mannen added. “We shouldn’t be having those every day. So just general nutrition advice: limiting sweets.”

Manufacturers have a hard deadline of January 2027 to get this additive out of all foods and drinks, and drug manufacturers will need to get it out by January 2028.