The FDA announced Wednesday it will ban Red No. 3 from food and drugs, a move that aligns with years of warnings from incoming Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about artificial food dyes.
It’s RFK, Jr.’s first big win since being announced as the Health Secretary… and he hasn’t even gone for his Senate confirmation hearing yet.
“Make America Healthy Again” indeed!
“We are betraying our children by letting these industries poison them,” Kennedy warned at a November campaign rally before his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services by President-elect Donald Trump.
The FDA will require all manufacturers to remove Red No. 3 from food products by January 15, 2027, and from drugs by January 18, 2028. The dye was banned from cosmetics in 1990 due to cancer concerns.
“The first thing I’d do isn’t going to cost you anything because I’m just gonna tell the cereal companies: Take all the dyes out of their food,” Kennedy said in October.
Trump endorsed Kennedy’s criticism of food manufacturers when announcing his nomination.
“Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation and disinformation when it comes to public health,” Trump wrote.
The two have vowed to take on “Big Pharma” and “Big Food” industries as part of Trump’s second term in office.
Over 3,000 food products contain Red No. 3, according to the Environmental Working Group. The European Union, Australia and New Zealand have already banned the petroleum-based dye.
Kennedy will oversee the FDA as health secretary once Trump in inaugurated on January 20th.
The agency regulates 80% of the nation’s food supply, including regulations on packaging that declares something “healthy” or discloses ingredient amounts.
U.S. food products often contain more artificial ingredients than their international counterparts. Kennedy highlighted Froot Loops cereal, which uses natural colorings in Canada but contains Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue 1 dyes in American versions.
Some companies have already removed artificial dyes in anticipation of the new administration’s crackdown. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese switched to turmeric and paprika in 2016 after public pressure.
The FDA’s ban responds to a 2022 petition citing studies linking the dye to cancer in lab rats and behavioral problems in children.
Kennedy’s Senate confirmation hearings have not been scheduled. If confirmed, he would lead efforts to regulate food additives and ingredients labeled as “generally regarded as safe.”