The Food and Drug Administration has banned the use of a specific red dye in food products.
Red No. 3, a synthetic dye which gives a cherry hue to candies, sodas, and some medications, has been linked to cancer in some studies.
“The FDA cannot authorize a food additive or color additive if it has been found to cause cancer in human or animals,” Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy director for human foods, said in a statement. “Evidence shows cancer in laboratory male rats exposed to high levels of FD&C Red No. 3.”
Food companies have until 2027 to phase out Red No. 3 from their products. Drug companies, like the maker of Tylenol PM, have until 2028.
The move comes more than 30 years after the FDA banned the use of Red No. 3 in cosmetics, when animal studies showed links to cancer.
At the time, the FDA promised to extend that ban to food products too, in part due to pressure from the food industry.
"Americans like their cherries red," a food lobbyist who worked with the maraschino cherry industry told the Washington Post in 1989, fighting to keep Red No. 3.
The ban on Red No 3. comes four months after California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a ban on six other synthetic food dyes in public schools: Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6. Newsom gave food giants until 2027 to reformulate their products.
It is serendipitous timing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department.
In his campaign for president, Kennedy promised Americans that he would ban all synthetic food dyes in his pursuit to "make America healthy again."