FDA plans to phase out use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes in food
FILE - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a swearing in ceremony for Dr. Mehmet Oz as the Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator in the Oval Office at the White House on April 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Health and Human Services and Food and Drug Administration will announce plans to phase out petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the nation’s food supply on Tuesday.
The initiative comes as states have already moved toward restricting access to dyes used in common foods such as cereals, candies and drinks.
Limiting dyes in foods
Dig deeper:
Thirty-six color additives are approved by the FDA for use in food and drinks in the U.S. Nine petroleum-based chemical dyes, including Red 3, have been allowed in U.S. food.
Public health advocates have been lobbying for state and federal action for years, pointing to research that links food dyes and other chemical additives to health risks, including exacerbating symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in some children and animal research linking certain additives to cancers.
The European Union and some countries, including Australia and Japan, have banned or restricted certain food dyes because of potential health risks.
Red 3
The backstory:
The FDA banned Red 3 from the nation’s food supply in January, setting a 2027 deadline for manufacturers to eliminate it from their products. Makers of ingested drugs like cough syrups have until January 2028.
FDA officials granted a 2022 petition filed by two dozen food safety and health advocates, who urged the agency to revoke authorization for the substance that gives some candies, snack cakes and maraschino cherries a bright red hue.
The dye is known as erythrosine, FD&C Red No. 3 or Red 3. The ban removes it from the list of approved color additives in foods, dietary supplements and oral medicines, such as cough syrups. More than three decades ago, the FDA declined to authorize the use of Red 3 in cosmetics and externally applied drugs because a study showed it caused cancer when eaten by rats.
Red 3 is banned for food use in Europe, Australia and New Zealand except in certain kinds of cherries. The dye will be banned in California starting in January 2027, and lawmakers in Tennessee, Arkansas and Indiana have filed proposals to limit certain dyes, particularly from foods offered in public schools.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from The Associated Press, the U.S. FDA website, a National Institute of Health study, and previous reporting by LiveNOW from FOX. This story was reported from Los Angeles.