The controversial additive that adds color to more than 3,200 food products, Red Dye No. 3 has managed to avoid meaningful federal oversight in the 30-plus years since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned its use in cosmetics after studies found that it causes cancer in lab rats. But its purveyors’ regulatory immunity has suddenly become less assured.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2023 signed a law that would ban the sale of products containing the dye — as well as three other food additives — beginning in 2027. The move is expected to put pressure on the FDA to revisit its 1990 ruling that prohibited the dye’s use in cosmetics but not in food.
“The primary purpose of this bill was to protect kids and families and consumers in the state of California,” Assembly member Jesse Gabriel tells the New York Times. “But a secondary purpose here was to send a message to Washington that the FDA process is broken, and hopefully to spur momentum in Washington, D.C., for real, significant change.”
Red Dye No. 3 is already banned for most food uses in several countries, including Canada, Australia, and those in the European Union.
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