The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it has decided to revoke its license to add the food dye Red 3, due to concerns about how the food dye is linked to cancer in laboratory animals.
Its officials had been announcing the decision for months. While the agency has long said it does not believe the cancer-causing evidence of Red 3 applies to humans, officials said their hand was forced by a law that requires the agency to withdraw additives found to be carcinogenic to humans. animals.
“The Delaney Clause is clear—the FDA cannot approve a food additive or color additive if it has been found to cause cancer in humans or animals. Evidence shows cancer in male lab rats exposed to high levels of FD&C Red No.3,” said Jim Jones, FDA deputy commissioner for human foods.
A post on the FDA’s website states that claims that the use of Red 3 in food or medicine “puts people at risk are not supported by available scientific information.”
Wednesday’s decision follows a petition filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and a number of other groups in 2022, calling for the additive to be withdrawn from the market.
The group also championed a California move in 2023 to ban the food coloring, whose use in cosmetics is already banned.
