(NEXSTAR) – A colorful ingredient you may find in your pantry or medicine cabinet is now banned by the Food and Drug Administration.
Erythrosine, which is more likely to show up as FD&C Red No. 3 or Red 3 on an ingredients label, is a color additive in food products, dietary supplements, and medicines like cough syrup. It gives those products a bright red color.
The additive was shown to cause cancer in lab rats who were exposed to it at high levels. Even though studies have not shown the same effect in people exposed to Red 3, a statute known as the Delaney Clause requires the FDA to ban any additive found to cause cancer in people or rats.
Now, food manufacturers have until January 2027 to remove Red 3 from their products. Medicine containing the additive will also need to be reformulated by January 2028.
Some of the items known to contain Red 3 include:
- Maraschino cherries (some brands)
- Pez Candy (assorted fruit)
- Dubble Bubble Original Twist Bubble Gum
- Trolli Sour Crunchy Crawlers Candy
- Yoo-hoo Strawberry Flavored Drink
- Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake Bar, and other frozen desserts
- McCormick red food coloring (and other brands of food coloring)
- Some brands of cough syrup and cough drops
- Some brands of gummy vitamins
- Some snack cakes and frostings
This isn’t the first time Red 3 has been targeted by U.S. regulators. It was barred from use in cosmetics in 1990.
Red 3 is also 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 Associated Press contributed to this report.
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