FDA bans Red Dye No. 3 in food: Expert shares what you need to know

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently banned the use of Red Dye No. 3 in food, decades after concerns that it is a significant cancer risk and contributes to hyperactivity in children. Virginia Tech food safety expert Melissa Wright says manufacturers will now have to find suitable alternatives that maintain the quality customers expect.

“Food producers have until Jan. 15, 2027, to reformulate products to comply with this ruling. Producers of ingestible drugs have until Jan. 18, 2028, to remove the color from their products, such as cough syrup,” Wright says. “Manufacturers should focus on ensuring that the reformulation doesn’t affect the products’ safety or efficacy, especially for drugs.”

What is Red Dye No. 3 and where is it found?

“Red 3 provides a vivid red color in food and is often used in products that are strawberry-flavored. Some examples include the Yoo-hoo Strawberry Drink, Fruit by the Foot, and some strawberry-flavored ice creams and snack cakes,” Wright says. It can also be found in icings, candy, and cookies. “Overall, Red 3 is used much less frequently than other synthetic dyes, like Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6.”

Will new formulas change the taste?

While there is a large push to remove all synthetic food coloring in the United States at some point, Wright said with the Red Dye No. 3 ban, consumers would not likely notice a difference in the quality of the products they purchase. “Other synthetic dyes, like Red 40, can be used in those products in its place,” she says.

How do I know what ingredients are in my food?

Some consumers may begin to tread more lightly when it comes to consuming food dyes, but through federal food labeling regulations, consumers should be able to find out if there are colorants in the foods they are choosing. “Any coloring added to food, regardless of the source, is considered ‘artificial coloring,’ so don’t let those words scare you. If it is a synthetic color, the source must be listed by name,” Wright says.

Synthetic colors are identified by names like Red 40, E129 (European) or FD&C Yellow No. 6. “The FDA calls these ‘certified color additives,’ and each batch must meet certain specifications to be used in food products,” Wright says. 

“Other color additives are exempt from certification and are derived from natural sources such as annatto extract (yellow), caramel (tan), beta-carotene (yellow-orange), beets (bluish-red) and grape skin extract (red-purple),” Wright says. “These do not have to be named specifically and may be included in the ingredient list as ‘artificial color’ or ‘color added.’”

Written by Meredith Murphy

About Wright

Melissa Wright is the director of the Food Producer Technical Assistant Network at Virginia Tech, which supports the food entrepreneur by assisting with starting a food business, nutrition label content, food safety analysis, and pertinent food regulations. The program’s goal is to help Virginia’s food-processing industry produce high-quality, safe, and innovative food products. As part of the Virginia Cooperative Extension network in the Department of Food Science and Technology under the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the program provides affordable and valuable assistance to help food entrepreneurs and businesses bring their products to market.

Interview

To schedule an interview with Wright, contact Margaret Ashburn in the media relations office at mkashburn@vt.edu or 540-529-0814.