Congress Urges FDA to Ban Red 3 in Foods Over Health Concerns

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Members of Congress Urge FDA to Ban Red 3

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

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23 members of Congress have sent a letter to FDA requesting that the agency ban the use of Red 3 in foods before the end of this Congress (by January 3, 2025).
The letter cites carcinogenicity concerns with Red 3 as well as concerns that it can cause neurobehavioral issues in some children. Red 3 is known to cause cancer in rats, although the same mechanism of action does not occur in humans and the relevance of these studies in humans is contested. Nevertheless, the carcinogenicity concern caused FDA to deny petitions for the permanent listing of Red 3 for use in cosmetics and topical drugs and terminate the provisional listing of Red 3 for those uses and the provisional listing of the lakes of Red 3 for use in food, drug, and cosmetic products in 1990. The neurobehavioral effects of Red 3 and other synthetic dyes are also contested and the California Department of Public Health recently concluded that there is “no scientific consensuses” regarding their neurobehavioral impact.
The use of Red 3 in food is banned in California (effective January 1, 2027) and FDA is currently considering a petition to revoke its authorizations in foods (including dietary supplements) and in ingested drugs. See FDA Information Page on Red 3.