On January 15, 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned Red Dye 3 in food and drugs following a petition filed in 2022. The widely supported petition claimed that the FDA should have banned the dye long ago, citing a 1990 study demonstrating that the dye induces cancer in male rats. This overdue ban reveals a larger phenomenon: the public’s lack of trust in the FDA for its failure in proper food additive regulation.
The dye could have been banned in 1958. Red Dye 3 was approved for use in the U.S. in 1907, known as erythrosine. Around 1990, the FDA concluded that Red Dye 3 could cause cancer in animals, but it was not removed from the food supply. This decision was final until a petition was filed on February 17, 2022 by several agencies arguing for the dye’s suspension under the 1958 Delaney Clause, which completely bans additives found to induce cancer in humans or animals. Now, food makers will have two years to reformulate their products without Red Dye 3, and drug companies have three years to remove it from their medicines.
The European Union (EU) has stringent food standards and adopts the precautionary principle, meaning that if a food product’s safety is uncertain, it can be banned or restricted until proven safe, according to RDR Global partners, a consultant in food safety and quality. However, this is not the case in the U.S.
The FDA retroactively banning food additives due to safety concerns is not uncommon. Their risk-based regulation approach means products can stay on the market until there is evidence that they are harmful, according to Laralyn Bergstedt, a Chemistry teacher at Lick-Wilmerding High School. “Oftentimes… there isn’t sufficient research [for] something we’ve been consuming.” she said. Later, when a problem comes up, an investigation begins. “Then, we may realize that we shouldn’t be consuming [something] because, finally, the research is done,” Bergstedt said.
The FDA has received many criticisms for its risk-based approach. The Director of Food Services at LWHS, Kathleen Fazio, along with many other Americans, hopes that the U.S. starts to emulate how other countries approach food regulation.
“[There are] a number of things that we allow in the U.S. that are absolutely forbidden all over Europe, all over Asia…in Canada, [and] Mexico,” Fazio said. Some countries also have cautionary labels for unhealthy ingredients. “[Some foods] from Mexico have these little [heptagonal] symbols, almost like a [black] stop sign…[telling] you this product contains excess sugar, excess fat, GMOs…” she said. “In Mexico, they’re so far ahead of us.” Just recently, in 2023, the FDA began studying this labeling practice.
Since the FDA’s food regulation standards are not acceptable for some, numerous organizations have dedicated their efforts to researching and bringing public awareness to the health effects of consuming food additives. These organizations, like the Center for Science in the Public Interest, often petition the FDA to revoke their authorization of food additives they deem hazardous. This lengthy yet effective process led to the FDA’s recent ban of Red Dye 3.
photo courtesy of @nicolerallphotography
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), food additives have a large presence in the food supply because they enhance flavors, add eye-catching colors and work as preservation agents. Food industries often rely on additives for maintaining a certain aesthetic or characteristic for their products and fight to keep their FDA approval. Carrie Maslow, a Psychology, Anatomy & Physiology teacher at LWHS, noted the health inequity issue posed by cheap processed food. “Ultra-processed foods are often cheap to make and not rich in nutrients. And, some of the additives and preservatives can have damaging health consequences,” she said. “It ends up being a health equity issue that foods which are more rich in nutrients are usually more expensive.”
Maslow noted that food education is incredibly important, because giving students the tools to understand what they are consuming can help them make better nutritional choices by themselves. “I think it’s pretty worthwhile to spend quite a bit of time with students looking at nutrition labels…and asking, what is this? What am I putting in my body?” she said.
Although countless organizations are working with the FDA to regulate new foods, individual research is necessary to find the most up-to-date information. The reveal of a hazardous ingredient might be in the press, but the FDA might not take action until years later– exemplified by the 35 years it took to ban Red Dye 3.
Currently, there is ingredient information that anyone with internet access can use to make decisions about what to eat. Bergstedt suggested applying the EU’s precautionary principle to investigate what makes up the foods in your pantry. “Why is that ingredient [there]…in the first place?” she said. “If there’s not a known beneficial reason or a proven reason why that ingredient is important…just steer clear of it.”
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