The US Food and Drug Administration is moving to ban the use of red number 3 dye in food products.
The agency said Wednesday that is changing regulation of color additives without stopping the use of red 3 in food and ingestible medicines, in response to the 2022 demand of health groups and activists.
FD&C Red No. 3, also known as Red 3, is a synthetic food coloring that gives foods and drinks a bright cherry-red color. It is mainly used in candies, cakes and cupcakes, cookies, frozen desserts, frostings and ice creams and some ingestible drugs.
At least two studies have shown that high levels of food dyes were linked to cancer in rats. However, the link between the dye and cancer does not occur in humans, the FDA says.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
