US Food and Drug Administration bans Red 3 dye in foods citing cancer risk

Color additive barred for use in foods and ingested drugs decades after study showed it caused cancer in rats

US regulators on Wednesday banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation's food supply, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk.

Food and Drug Administration officials granted a 2022 petition filed by two dozen food safety and health advocates, who urged the agency to revoke authorization for the substance that gives some candies, snack cakes and maraschino cherries a bright red hue.