FDA bans red no. 3 dye

In a last-minute move before president Donald J. Trump’s second term, the US Food and Drug Administration granted a petition by public health advocates to ban red no. 3 dye, also known as erythrosine, in food and drugs . The agency cites the Delaney Clause, a 1960 law, as the reason it will no longer allow the bright, cherry red dye in either food or drugs, effective Jan. 15, 2027, and Jan. 18, 2028, respectively. The clause prohibits the FDA from authorizing food additives and dyes that cause cancer in humans or animals. The Center for Science in the Public Interest and other groups petitioned the agency in 2022 to ban red no. 3, citing two studies that show cancer in male rats exposed to high levels of the color additive. The biological mechanism leading to those cancers is specific to male rat hormones and does not occur in other