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FDA Bans Red No. 3, Artificial Coloring Used in Beverages, Candy and Other Foods
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Wednesday it’s banning the use of Red No. 3, a synthetic dye that gives food and drinks their bright red cherry color but has been linked to cancer in animals.
The dye is still used in thousands of foods, including candy, cereals, cherries in fruit cocktails and strawberry-flavored milkshakes, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food safety advocacy group that petitioned the agency in 2022 to end its use.
The FDA’s decision marks a victory for consumer advocacy groups and some U.S. lawmakers who have long urged the FDA to revoke the additive’s approval, citing ample evidence that its use in beverages, dietary supplements, cereals and candies may cause cancer as well as affect children’s behavior.
A Baker’s Dozen of Food Chemicals the FDA Should Ban Next
Environmental Working Group reported:
It’s good news the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to ban Red Dye No. 3 from being used in food, as it announced today. But that’s just the start — many other toxic chemicals can still be added to food and food packaging, and the FDA should move swiftly to ban them.
The ban on Red 3 is years overdue. In 1990, the FDA banned it from cosmetics, citing its risk of causing cancer. At the time, it pledged to extend the ban to cover use in food, too. Since then, many other countries have banned most uses of Red 3, and California in 2023 enacted a law that prohibited the dye and three other chemicals from use in food.
Other concerning substances remain in food sold throughout the U.S. Here’s a baker’s dozen of chemicals added to food and food packaging that the FDA should immediately ban.
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As Foodborne Illnesses Sicken Tens of Millions Each Year, FDA Falls Behind on Mandated Inspections
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not performed its legally required number of food safety inspections each year since 2018, according to a new government watchdog report.
Each year, about one in six Americans falls ill due to foodborne illnesses, and oversight agencies have routinely found that the U.S. food safety system — a shared responsibility of the FDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and several others — falls short.
In 2017, the Government Accountability Office called for a unified strategy to address food safety, as no less than eight different federal departments had a hand in fortifying the nation’s food. And in 2018, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, or GAO, criticized the USDA for not doing enough to keep foodborne pathogens out of the nation’s meat supply. In 2021, ProPublica found that the USDA knew of an ongoing salmonella outbreak but had allowed contaminated meat to continue to be sold.
Generally, the USDA inspects meat and poultry, and it sometimes has inspectors stationed inside large meat processing plants. The FDA inspects fruits, vegetables, dairy products and processed foods — about 80% of the food supply. It also inspects food overseas that will be imported to the U.S.
Memory Systems in the Brain Drive Food Cravings That Could Influence Body Weight
Can memory influence what and how much we eat? A Monell Chemical Senses Center study, which links food memory to overeating, answered that question with a resounding “Yes.”
Led by Monell Associate Member Guillaume de Lartigue, Ph.D., the research team identified, for the first time, the brain’s food-specific memory system and its direct role in overeating and diet-induced obesity.
Published in Nature Metabolism, they describe a specific population of neurons in the mouse brain that encode memories for sugar and fat, profoundly impacting food intake and body weight. “In today’s world, we are constantly bombarded with advertisements and environmental triggers designed to remind us of pleasurable food experiences,” said Dr. de Lartigue.
