Red Dye No. 3I hope you've enjoyed the start to the New Year! The sunshine has been gorgeous and a welcome contrast to the last two winters of never-ending fog. While many of you are following your own body's request for wintering, more hibernation and sleep, it seems like the outside world has been moving in overdrive.
One of the headlines you may have caught last week is that the United States FDA has announced a ban on using Red Dye #3 as an ingredient ... effective in 2027 for food and 2028 for medications. So what does this mean?
Over the last hundred or so years, we've seen the introduction of thousands of chemicals into our food, environment, and body care products. Quite often the research on the safety of these compounds is retroactive and individual, meaning that research shows problems after its been on the market and studies focus on one ingredient in isolation, not the interaction of various compounds as they would be encountered in real life.
For example, the toxicity of atrazine, which has been linked to hormone disruption and developmental effects and is used in agriculture as a herbicide, increases exponentially when mixed with certain other chemicals that are common to that industry. (Atrazine is the one that turned the frogs female, if you remember those headlines). You might think, that's ok - I'm not a farmer, but unfortunately there are detectable amounts of many chemicals in the water supply (1).
Red Dye #3 (F.D. & C. No. 3, also called erythrosine) is made from petroleum and has been used purely for aesthetics to create bright red coloured candies, drinks, and medicines like cough syrups and iron supplements.
What happened?
Actually, the concerns regarding food dyes are not new. Animal studies from the 1980s showed a link between high doses of Red Dye #3 and developmental tumors in rats (2). Consequently, in 1990 its use was banned in cosmetics and topical medications. Now, after 35 years of advocacy by consumer interest groups, the FDA has concluded that it will no longer be used in food and drugs, which aligns with the regulations in several other countries. Instead, red colour in food will be achieved using beet juice, berries, red cabbage and carmine (from insects) (3). Several products have already made this switch here, like Fruit Loops and Smarties.
How about Canada?
Quickly after the FDA announcement, Health Canada stated that Red Dye #3 would remain available in Canada, deeming it "not a health risk to the Canadian population" (4). Of course, research in animals studies does not necessarily translate into human health, but the purpose of animal studies is to determine any potential risks and alarms prior to consideration for use in humans. They cited safety evaluations conducted by the WHO and UN in 2018, which concluded that there were no concerns with food dye additives (4). Interestingly, this sets Canada apart, since this food colouring is already restricted in Europe, New Zealand and Australia. Confusing, right? Why is it ok in some places and not others? At this point, it seems that Health Canada requires proof of harm to humans in order to change their position.
Health Implications
Apart from the aforementioned possible risk of cancer, dyes have been implicated in attention & behavourial issues, reduced memory and learning capacity, sleep disorders, migraines, inflammatory bowel disease, and certain cancers. It can be difficult to ascertain the true risk to humans since artificial food colourings are most often an ingredient of ultra-processed and high-sugar foods, for which we have a mountain of research to link with chronic disease. Some researchers suspect that there may be a cumulative effect of dyes within an individual, but also in their offspring, since dyes can be fat soluble and stored in the body (5).
In general, the opinion from several Canadian scientists has been that since artificial dyes pose no nutritional benefit, beyond visual appeal, they should not be added into food (6). Similarly, a paper published in 2024 concluded that, "Recently, there has been a debate on using functional food additives that may improve human health instead of those that are potentially harmful. The primary notion is to use exclusively nontoxic, plant-based food additives, which are safe from both a health and environmental point of view" (7). Basically, let's use benign or healthful options and avoid any potential risk.
What does this mean for you?
As much as the exclusion of Red Dye No. 3 from food and drugs in the United States is exciting news for anyone that has advocated against the use of food dyes, there's clearly still much work to be done. Yes, it might be a drop in the bucket, but we can still celebrate some wins before continuing to bring awareness to the safety of our food supply. Clearly, it's a very slow process and we cannot expect regulators to act swiftly, but we don't need to wait for them.
In the meantime, you can:
I hope that you have found this information helpful in your journey to good health. I've been so excited to see people ready to get back or stay on track in January!
See you soon,
Dr. Christa
1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38905799/
2. https://www.newsweek.com/list-red-dye-3-fda-food-drink-ban-2015450
3. https://time.com/7207523/fda-bans-red-dye-what-to-know/
4. https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/science/health-canada-says-synthetic-red-food-dye-banned-by-fda-poses-no-human-risk-in/article_81a33777-6375-55b5-ac5e-48edaca2eb89.html
5. https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/17/health/red-40-food-dyes-wellness/index.html
6. https://toronto.citynews.ca/2025/01/16/health-canada-says-synthetic-red-food-dye-banned-by-fda-poses-no-human-risk-in-canada/
7. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11280921/
One of the headlines you may have caught last week is that the United States FDA has announced a ban on using Red Dye #3 as an ingredient ... effective in 2027 for food and 2028 for medications. So what does this mean?
Over the last hundred or so years, we've seen the introduction of thousands of chemicals into our food, environment, and body care products. Quite often the research on the safety of these compounds is retroactive and individual, meaning that research shows problems after its been on the market and studies focus on one ingredient in isolation, not the interaction of various compounds as they would be encountered in real life.
For example, the toxicity of atrazine, which has been linked to hormone disruption and developmental effects and is used in agriculture as a herbicide, increases exponentially when mixed with certain other chemicals that are common to that industry. (Atrazine is the one that turned the frogs female, if you remember those headlines). You might think, that's ok - I'm not a farmer, but unfortunately there are detectable amounts of many chemicals in the water supply (1).
Red Dye #3 (F.D. & C. No. 3, also called erythrosine) is made from petroleum and has been used purely for aesthetics to create bright red coloured candies, drinks, and medicines like cough syrups and iron supplements.
What happened?
Actually, the concerns regarding food dyes are not new. Animal studies from the 1980s showed a link between high doses of Red Dye #3 and developmental tumors in rats (2). Consequently, in 1990 its use was banned in cosmetics and topical medications. Now, after 35 years of advocacy by consumer interest groups, the FDA has concluded that it will no longer be used in food and drugs, which aligns with the regulations in several other countries. Instead, red colour in food will be achieved using beet juice, berries, red cabbage and carmine (from insects) (3). Several products have already made this switch here, like Fruit Loops and Smarties.
How about Canada?
Quickly after the FDA announcement, Health Canada stated that Red Dye #3 would remain available in Canada, deeming it "not a health risk to the Canadian population" (4). Of course, research in animals studies does not necessarily translate into human health, but the purpose of animal studies is to determine any potential risks and alarms prior to consideration for use in humans. They cited safety evaluations conducted by the WHO and UN in 2018, which concluded that there were no concerns with food dye additives (4). Interestingly, this sets Canada apart, since this food colouring is already restricted in Europe, New Zealand and Australia. Confusing, right? Why is it ok in some places and not others? At this point, it seems that Health Canada requires proof of harm to humans in order to change their position.
Health Implications
Apart from the aforementioned possible risk of cancer, dyes have been implicated in attention & behavourial issues, reduced memory and learning capacity, sleep disorders, migraines, inflammatory bowel disease, and certain cancers. It can be difficult to ascertain the true risk to humans since artificial food colourings are most often an ingredient of ultra-processed and high-sugar foods, for which we have a mountain of research to link with chronic disease. Some researchers suspect that there may be a cumulative effect of dyes within an individual, but also in their offspring, since dyes can be fat soluble and stored in the body (5).
In general, the opinion from several Canadian scientists has been that since artificial dyes pose no nutritional benefit, beyond visual appeal, they should not be added into food (6). Similarly, a paper published in 2024 concluded that, "Recently, there has been a debate on using functional food additives that may improve human health instead of those that are potentially harmful. The primary notion is to use exclusively nontoxic, plant-based food additives, which are safe from both a health and environmental point of view" (7). Basically, let's use benign or healthful options and avoid any potential risk.
What does this mean for you?
As much as the exclusion of Red Dye No. 3 from food and drugs in the United States is exciting news for anyone that has advocated against the use of food dyes, there's clearly still much work to be done. Yes, it might be a drop in the bucket, but we can still celebrate some wins before continuing to bring awareness to the safety of our food supply. Clearly, it's a very slow process and we cannot expect regulators to act swiftly, but we don't need to wait for them.
In the meantime, you can:
- Read labels and avoid foods with dyes, colourings, and ingredients you cannot pronounce
- Sometimes, products are sneaky and use other names, like Yellow #5 being called Tartrazine (I think it might be out of Kraft Dinner now, but still in Goldfish crackers?)
- We don't usually read the ingredients of fast food labels, you might want to look them up - Use colourful alternatives like beets (red), dragonfruit (pink), chlorophyll (green), turmeric (orange)
- Here is a great recipe idea: Dragon Fruit & Kiwi Smoothie - Eat mostly whole foods
- Monitor how you feel when you eat certain foods
- I have one son that gets migraines from red dye, which was discovered after someone bought him a slushie and was confirmed after a red smoothie caused the same reaction. It would not be a regular food ingredient for us, but it's definitely out now. - Consider being vocal with politicians on issues that matter to you
- Your response to the actions to limit Natural Health Products has been overwhelming!
I hope that you have found this information helpful in your journey to good health. I've been so excited to see people ready to get back or stay on track in January!
See you soon,
Dr. Christa
1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38905799/
2. https://www.newsweek.com/list-red-dye-3-fda-food-drink-ban-2015450
3. https://time.com/7207523/fda-bans-red-dye-what-to-know/
4. https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/science/health-canada-says-synthetic-red-food-dye-banned-by-fda-poses-no-human-risk-in/article_81a33777-6375-55b5-ac5e-48edaca2eb89.html
5. https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/17/health/red-40-food-dyes-wellness/index.html
6. https://toronto.citynews.ca/2025/01/16/health-canada-says-synthetic-red-food-dye-banned-by-fda-poses-no-human-risk-in-canada/
7. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11280921/
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