Whether you’re packing school lunches or tossing a few snacks in your purse for a busy day, a lot of the foods on this list are a convenient way to ward off being hangry. What you may not realize is that some of your go-to snacks contain a highly controversial ingredient that’s now been banned by the federal government.
After years of Consumer Reports advocating that the Food and Drug Administration ban use of an ingredient called Red 3 in food products, the state of California took matters into their own hands. The additive has been banned from foods in several countries like Japan, China, the UK, New Zealand and the European Union (with the exception of a few cherry products.) With the federal government failing to act, California passed a law in 2023 that gave manufactures until 2027 to remove Red 3 from their recipes or their products could not be sold in California.
Flashforward to January 2025? With several other states exploring similar legislation, including Washington State, the federal government finally decided to act. The FDA recently announced that use of Red 3 will become illegal in every state, including Idaho, beginning January 15, 2027. Drug makers must remove it from their medications by the same date in 2028.
Why Is Red 3 Dangerous?
The food additive is made from petroleum and Consumer Reports says that it’s a known carcinogen. When fed to lab rats, those who ingested a large amount of the artificial coloring ended up developing thyroid tumors. The publication also suggested that Red 3 could be connected to hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in kids.
Manufacturers Already Working to Remove Red 3 From Products
We knew that after California banned the dye that many manufacturers like Kellanova (formerly Kellogg’s,) Nabisco, Kroger and Walmart would probably get to work on coming up with new recipes. It was highly unlikely that they’d make two versions of the same product just to appease one state…