The science behind the FDA ban on food dye Red No. 3

Short Wave

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🗓️ 20 January 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration announced it is banning the dye called Red No. 3, a food dye additive in many processed foods, like sodas, sweets and snacks. Recently, it and other dyes were linked to behavior issues in children. But high levels of Red No. 3 were linked to cancer in rats decades ago. So why is the ban happening now?

Senior editor and science desk correspondent Maria Godoy answers our questions about Red No. 3 and other dyes that may replace it. Plus, how should parents think about feeding their kids products that may contain Red No. 3 before the ban takes affect.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	On NPR's Wild Card podcast, comedian Michelle Buteau says she's glad she ignored the people who told her to lose weight.
0:07.3	I'm just going to show you what it looks like to love my body, my double chin, my extra rolls, okay?
0:13.9	My buckets of thighs.
0:15.9	So it's on the side you can't afford it.
0:17.9	I'm Rachel Martin.
0:18.9	Michelle Butow is on the Wild Card podcast, the show where cards control the conversation.
0:25.2	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:30.5	Hey, shortwaver is Emily Kwong here with the lovely Maria Godoy, senior editor and correspondent with the NPR Science Desk.
0:37.0	Hey, Maria.
0:37.6	Hey, Emily. You are here to walk me through an announcement from the Food and Drug Administration that happened Wednesday. That's like a pretty big deal.
0:45.5	Yeah, so they announced that they're banning the food die red number three or in FDA terms. That's revoking authorization.
0:52.5	Very official. Red dye number three, of course, is a very widely
0:56.8	used food dye. It's been authorized for decades. For half a century, actually, and it's in
1:02.0	thousands of products. It's a petroleum-based dye that's in everything from candy to all sorts
1:07.1	of snack foods, and so does, too, because it gives products this very bright,
1:11.6	cherry red color. And in 2002, a petition was filed with the FDA to ban the die. So the
1:18.8	FDA has been reviewing the petition and the evidence ever since in an effort to comply with a
1:23.9	provision from a 1958 law known as the Delaney Clause.
1:27.9	What is the Delaney Clause?
1:29.1	So it's part of a series of laws that were passed following hearings in the early 1950s
1:33.6	by Representative James Delaney.
1:36.0	This one targets food additives.
	...

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