Main Points
During the 1990s, the FDA prohibited the use of red dye No. 3 in topical medications and cosmetics, however artificial food dyes are still permitted in food products.
According to research, food colorings may contribute to children’s symptoms of ADHD.
The red dye No. 40 and five other synthetic dyes must have a health warning label on products sold in the European Union.
If you’re looking for a last-minute way to show your crush you care this Valentine’s Day, sending a playful text or a dozen red roses might be preferable to buying whatever red, heart-shaped candy is available in the checkout line.
In October 2022, the FDA received a petition from the Center for Science in the Public Interest and a number of other organizations asking it to strike red dye No. 3 from the list of permitted additives for food and supplements. An FDA spokeswoman stated that the agency is presently considering the petition.
Children’s ADHD Symptoms and Synthetic Dyes Red No. 3 is not the only synthetic food colour that health experts are concerned about. According to Brian Ronholm, Consumer Reports’ head of food policy, synthetic food colors are known to cause animal cancer and have been related to “adverse neurobehavioral effects.”
According to a 2021 research in California, certain children’s hyperactivity may be exacerbated by particular food colours like red No. 3 and red No. 40, Ronholm said.
In response, the industry group for color additives, the International Association of Color Manufacturers, stated that “no study has presented compelling evidence that these colors influence undesirable behaviors.”
However, the European Union has mandated that from 2010, items containing red dye No. 40 and five other synthetic dyes must be accompanied by a notice that they “may have a detrimental effect on activity and attention in youngsters.”
However, the European Union has mandated that from 2010, items containing red dye No. 40 and five other synthetic dyes must be accompanied by a notice that they “may have a detrimental effect on activity and attention in youngsters.”
Synthetic dyes must be included on ingredient lists, but similar health warnings are not present on U.S. products. According to Galligan, people in the United States can no longer avoid dangerous food coloring unless they carefully read product labels. In our view, that burden is unreasonable, he declared.
Eating red dyes, according to experts, is not worth the risk.
There are still disagreements on the use of synthetic colors in food. Red dye No. 3 may not be worth the danger, despite studies not concluding that it causes cancer in people on a direct basis. The underlying presumption, according to him, is that if something causes cancer in an animal, it will therefore cause cancer in people.
The Delaney Clause, an antiquated clause in the Color Additive Amendments of 1960 that specifies that the FDA should deem these chemicals “unsafe,” theoretically prohibits the use of compounds known to cause cancer in humans or animals in food items.
3 This is cited as one of the key defenses for outlawing the dye in the most current red 3 petition.
What This Means For You Artificial food colors, such as red dyes 3 and 40, are solely added to make food look more appetizing and have no nutritional value.