Red dye No. 3 ban: Health watchdog warns of 3 other food additives linked to cancer

The FDA issued an order on Wednesday banning Red No.3 from use in foods and ingestible drugs over concerns that the additive could cause cancer.This particular dye has been banned in cosmetics and topical drugs since 1990, but despite the FDA announcing an intent to further ban it in food in 1992, it took until this week to take action.The move came following a a petition from the Center for Science in the Public Interest and 23 other organizations, which included data showing male lab rats exposed to high levels of Red No.

3 got cancer.But CSPI’s Principal Scientist for Food Additives and Supplements, Thomas Galligan, says Red No.3 isn’t the only food additive that’s been linked to harmful side effects including cancer.

Speaking to The Post, he shared three other additives his organization would like to see banned next.Aspartame is a zero-calorie artificial sweetener that can be found in lots of diet and sugar-free foods including soda, gum, gelatin, ice cream, breakfast cereal and yogurt.It’s also sold under brand names like Nutrasweet, Equal, and Sugar Twin.Galligan said it’s “the most common” additive that they’re concerned about for cancer.In 2023, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified aspartame as possibly carcinogenic, or cancer-causing, to humans — which Galligan stresses was “based pretty much entirely on the human evidence.”“Unfortunately, the FDA has really dug its heels in on this and actually tried to stop IARC from even doing its evaluation,” he said.

“The FDA really believes that aspartame is safe and doesn’t want to hear otherwise, essentially, and so it really falls on consumers to try to have to avoid that one for themselves.”The FDA, for its part, said it “disagrees with IARC’s conclusion” and that their scientists don’t have safety concerns about its use.“[They] had no interest in what IARC had to say, which is really unfortunate, because the IARC is the international a...