The cherry-red glow of candies, cereals, and milkshakes will soon fade as the FDA drops the curtain on Red No. 3. This synthetic dye, long under scrutiny for its cancer risks in animal studies, will be phased out of the U.S. food supply by 2027. For consumer advocates, the move feels like a long-overdue triumph in a decades-long battle against a chemical once deemed fit for both food and lipstick—until cosmetics ditched it in 1990.
“This regulatory paradox was baffling,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), one of the groups that pushed for the ban. “It’s about time the FDA aligned its rules with common sense.” Food manufacturers, on their part, now face the ticking clock of reformulation, a process likely to cost millions but seen as essential to restoring consumer confidence.
Despite the FDA’s assurances that its decisions are science-driven, some critics wonder why it took nearly 40 years to act on findings that linked Red No. 3 to cancer in lab rats. Melanie Benesh from the Environmental Working Group celebrated the step forward but stressed, “The FDA should’ve acted decades ago. Still, it’s a vital win for public health.”
Not everyone is raising a glass—or strawberry-flavored milkshake—to the decision. Industry voices, while pledging compliance, have expressed concerns about maintaining product consistency. Meanwhile, consumer advocacy groups hope this signals broader action on other controversial artificial dyes. For now, Red No. 3 will soon join a growing list of banned substances, another red flag removed from the American diet.
(Source: FDA | WSJ | Associated Press)
