The cosmetics of food is a really interesting field when you think about it. How many times have you watched an ad for Subway and known none of the subs ever look that good? They put a lot of work into make food look good in pictures, but there’s also a lot of work that goes into making processed food look the way it does. Or perhaps it would be better to say there are a lot of chemicals that go into making it look the way it does. One of those chemicals, red dye no. 3, is finally getting banned in the United States.
Imagine a food or medication that you buy in a supermarket that has a red color to it. Something as red as a maraschino cherry is only the way it is because of chemical dyes. One of these frequentl- used additives is called red dye no. 3, and its been banned from cosmetic products since 1990. And why was that the case? Because the chemical was found to cause cancer in rats.
Even though it was banned in cosmetics, the dye was still used in food. The United States Food and Drug Administration (USDA) continued to allow it to be used in this capacity. Reports at the time indicated the way it caused cancer in rats “would not be analogous to humans.” But this didn’t stop other countries from eventually banning the chemical. All across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand the dye is banned.
There have been outcries to ban it in the states as well and it looks like that’s finally happening… eventually.
The FDA officially banned red dye no. 3 citing the Delaney Clause. It effectively states if something is found to cause cancer in people or animals, the FDA is required to ban it. And now it has.
In January of 2027.
So, this FDA verified carcinogen can still be in your food for another two years. To be fair, a lot of manufactures have shown concern over this dye, and have switched over to Red 40. Still, it almost feels antithetical to say something can cause cancer, say it needs to be banned, and then let it persist for two years.
Imagine reflecting on this and realizing that the appearance of food is so important to selling it, that we’ve been potentially poisoning ourselves for decades. Maybe the idea of an off-color cherry is not entirely appetizing, but it seems like it’s a better choice than a carcinogenic one. So long Red 3, it was nice knowing you.
Here is a list of foods that contain the dye.
