— VOA Learning English — Health & Lifestyle Source: Voice of America Learning English (https://learningenglish.voanews.com/) Licence: Public domain (work of the U.S. federal government, 17 U.S.C. §105) Audio is served by the publisher; Budi does not host or modify it.
0:00The US Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has banned a chemical widely used to color some food products red. The ban of the coloring chemical called dye came nearly 35 years after it was removed from skin products because of a possible cancer risk. A group of food safety and health Supporters issued a petition in 2022 seeking to have the FDA ban Red No. 3 in food. The earlier ban was ordered in 1990, after two studies showed Red No 3 caused cancer in male rats eating high levels of the chemical. At the time, however, the FDA only acted to ban the coloring mixture in products put on the skin or in drugs taken by mouth. Health activists had long sought FDA approval to expand the ban to food products.
1:08In November, nearly two dozen members of Congress sent a letter demanding that FDA officials ban Red No. 3. Some of the most common products containing Red No 3 include sweets, icing, strawberry Red No. 3 is already banned for food use in Europe, Banned in 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 also proposed limits on certain dyes, especially from foods offered in public schools. Jim Jones is the FDA's Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods. He noted that even though the agency had established the new ban, the way that FD&C Red No. 3 causes cancer in male rats does not occur in humans.
2:45FDA officials said the ban was enacted because of a US rule called the Delaney Clause. This legal policy requires the FDA to ban any additive found to cause cancer in people or animals. Dr. Peter Lurie is director of the consumer activist group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest. He helped lead the latest effort to remove Red Number 3 from food products. Lurrie told the Associated Press, this is a welcome but long overdue action from the FDA. The International Association of Color Manufacturers has repeatedly said Red Number Red 3 is safe in levels usually taken in by humans. The group pointed to research carried out by scientific experts from the United Nations and the World Health Organization.
3:48One study, released in 2018, confirmed the safety of red 3 in food. Some food manufacturers have already changed their products to remove red number 3. One example is Sensient Food Colors, a St. Louis-based supplier of food colors and flavorings. In its place, the company uses beet juice, a dye made from insects and other coloring mixtures. I'm Jill Robins.
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