On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration announced it is banning the dye called Red No. 3, a food dye additive in many processed foods, like sodas, sweets and snacks. Recently, it and other dyes were linked to behavior issues in children. But high levels of Red No. 3 were linked to cancer in rats decades ago. So why is the ban happening now? Senior editor and science desk correspondent Maria Godoy answers our questions about Red No. 3 and other dyes that may replace it. Plus, how should parents think about feeding their kids products that may contain Red No. 3 before the ban takes affect.Questions, story ideas or want us to dig into another food science issue? Email us at [email protected] — we'd love to hear from you! Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey, Shortwavers. Emily Kwong here with the lovely Maria Godoy, senior editor and correspondent with the NPR Science Desk. Hey, Maria. Hey, Emily. You are here to walk me through an announcement from the Food and Drug Administration that happened Wednesday. That's like a pretty big deal.
Yeah. So they announced that they're banning the food dye red number three or in FDA terms, that's revoking authorization.
Very official. Red dye number three, of course, is a very widely used food dye. It's been authorized for decades.
For half a century, actually, and it's in thousands of products. It's a petroleum-based dye that's in everything from candy to all sorts of snack foods and sodas, too, because it gives products this very bright cherry red color. And in 2002, a petition was filed with the FDA to ban the dye.
So the FDA has been reviewing the petition and the evidence ever since in an effort to comply with a provision from a 1958 law known as the Delaney Clause. What does the Delaney cause? So it's part of a series of laws that were passed following hearings in the early 1950s by Representative James Delaney.
This one targets food additives, and it says specifically no food additive can be authorized if it's been found to cause cancer. So today on the show, red dye number three. What the research shows about its link to cancer, what other dyes you should be aware of, and what parents should know before letting their kids eat artificially colored food. I'm Emily Kwong.
And I'm Maria Godoy. And you're listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.
Okay, Maria, tell me about this petition.
What did it ask for?
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