logo
What artificial food dye bans mean for your health and fridge

What artificial food dye bans mean for your health and fridge

CBS News26-03-2025

Growing concerns about the
health effects of food dyes
have led to a
new West Virginia law
banning seven artificial food dyes – but what does this mean for those in other states? And where else are bans in place?
Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, told "CBS Mornings Plus" Wednesday that the impact of West Virginia's move is yet to be seen.
"If this had been California or New York or Texas, that is a different thing, because then you're really having such a big impact on the market. Do manufacturers want to make something different for one state like California versus the rest of the country?" she said. "West Virginia is pretty small, so it's hard to know if this is really just going to mean certain foods just won't be sold in West Virginia, as opposed to separate products being developed for West Virginia."
Nationally, at least 30 color additives are
approved by the Federal Drug Administration
for use in food and drinks, including nine artificial dyes. Those nine require batch certification, meaning the FDA analyzes a sample from each batch of the additive to check if it meets certain requirements before it can be used.
The West Virginia ban is the most sweeping state level food dye regulation in the U.S. and includes:
Starting Aug. 1, these dies will not be in school meals in the state. Starting in January 2028, the dyes, along with preservatives butylated hydroxyanisole and propylparaben, will not be allowed in any foods, beverages or over-the-counter drugs sold in the state.
While you may not know these dyes by name, they can show up in your foods. Red No. 40, for example, can be found in salami, Yellow No. 6 in chicken bullion and Blue No. 1 in canned peas.
Gounder noted that states can follow what's known as the precautionary principle, "which is basically, 'better safe than sorry'" to ban food additives. The FDA, however, needs to go through a scientific process and show evidence of a risk first.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey cited Health and Human Services Secretary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make American Healthy Again"
campaign in a statement released March 24 about the ban.
"West Virginia ranks at the bottom of many public health metrics, which is why there's no better place to lead the Make America Healthy Again mission," he said. "By eliminating harmful chemicals from our food, we're taking steps toward improving the health of our residents and protecting our children from significant long-term health and learning challenges."
Gounder also acknowledged Kennedy's influence.
"It's interesting because this is actually kind of importing European-style regulation to what is a very red, conservative state — so not what you would think of, but I think this is the influence of MAHA," she said. "Frankly, people on both sides of the aisle are really supportive of being healthier in this respect."
In 2023, California became the first state in the U.S. to issue a
ban
of Red No. 3 as well as potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil and propylparaben. The ban starts in 2027.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom
also signed
legislation
, taking effect in 2028, that bans schools from serving or selling food and drinks with Blue No. 1, Blue No. 2, Green No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5 and Yellow No. 6.
Several other states have introduced varying levels of bans or regulations on color additives, according to the
Environmental Working Group
, which advocates for changing industry health standards.
In January, the FDA announced its decision to
revoke the authorization
for one dye, Red No. 3, to be added to foods, after evidence showed a link between the dye and cancer in laboratory animals. Red 3, which is made of petroleum, is what gives a bright cherry-red color to a lot of foods and candies. It has already been banned in cosmetics and topical medications since 1990.
Companies are working to
update their products
to comply with the FDA's decision. They have until Jan. 15, 2027, to stop using the dye, the agency said.
Hundreds of food brands, including products ranging from candy and fruit cups to snack chips and tomato sauce, have contained Red 3 at some point, according to databases maintained by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
and the nonprofit
Environmental Working Group
, as well as nutrition labels disclosed by food companies.
At the end of 2024, the FDA said it has not formally reevaluated the safety of
Red No. 40
, or Red 40 for short, in over a decade.
Jim Jones
, the former deputy commissioner for human foods, warned at the time their budget was too small.
An FDA study published
in 2016
estimated that children are exposed to Red 40 the most from drinks, frozen desserts and cereal.
Databases published by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
and nonprofit
Environmental Working Group
tally thousands of foods with Red 40. Medications and cosmetics also have it.
In 2011, a panel of the FDA's food advisers voted against a warning like one that
authorities in Europe issued
for dyes, including Red 40, that says they "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children." Most of the advisers said at the time they thought studies fell short of proving causality.
The agency's science board concluded in 2019 that "most children have no effects from consuming foods containing color additives, though some evidence suggested that certain children may be part of a sensitive subpopulation," an FDA spokesperson said.
Gounder said there is "some evidence, at least for some kids" that these dyes can increase certain risks, including hyperactivity, sleeplessness and inattention.
"So especially for those kids where that impact has been seen, and taking those foods away relieves those symptoms, for those kids, especially, it is a good thing," she said.
Most calls to restrict Red 40 stem from research commissioned by British food authorities
in 2007
, which linked increases of hyperactivity in children to mixtures of synthetic dyes.
"If you talk to parents whose kids are sensitive to dyes, they'll tell you how difficult it is to avoid dyes and what a huge change it was for their entire household to try to get these dyes out of their kids' diets," environmental health consultant Lisa Lefferts
previously told CBS News.
For Red 3, the FDA has long said that it does not think evidence of it causing cancer applied to humans, but officials said their hand was forced by a law requiring the agency to pull additives that are cancerous in animals. A post on
the FDA's website
states, "claims that the use of FD&C Red No. 3 in food and in ingested drugs puts people at risk are not supported by the available scientific information."
If you want to limit dye intake, experts say to pay attention to labels.
"You can't look at the color. Even white foods may have synthetic dyes to make it brighter," Gounder previously said.
Alexander Tin
and
Emily Mae Czachor
contributed to this report.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Urgent fish recall issued over botulism concerns
Urgent fish recall issued over botulism concerns

Yahoo

time35 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Urgent fish recall issued over botulism concerns

Fish sold in multiple U.S. states have been urgently recalled because they may have been contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that can cause illness or death. P. East Trading Corp. is recalling its Salted Smoked Split Herring, according to a press release shared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday. The product is five inches in length and uneviscerated, meaning they had not had its internal organs removed. According to the FDA, the recalled fish may contain Clostridium botulinum spores that cause botulism, 'as they are more likely to be concentrated in the viscera than any other portion of the fish.' Botulism is a rare but serious condition caused by a toxin that attacks the body's nerves. Symptoms include general weakness, dizziness, double-vision, trouble with speaking or swallowing, difficulty in breathing, abdominal distension, and constipation. The recall came after the Salted Smoked Split Herring was sampled by a New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Food Inspector. A subsequent analysis of the product confirmed that the 'herring was not properly eviscerated prior to processing.' There have been no reported illnesses so far. The recalled fish was sold at retail locations in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. It was sold in 18-pound wooden boxes with the container code Lot 1 PRC5073. However, the FDA noted that the product could have been repacked by retail store workers in 'deli-style or other retail packaging.' A specific list of the stores that received and potentially sold the herring can be found here. Consumers are urged not to eat the recalled herring. Instead, they should return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund. This isn't the only product that's been recalled due to a risk of botulinum. In April, Walker's Wine Juice recalled its pumpkin juice, sold in 12 states, because it may have contained the potentially fatal form of food poisoning. The recall was issued after the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Food Inspectors discovered the juice's pH was 'too high to be processed per Walker's 'hot fill' schedule process.' The recall applied to all lots of Walker's Wine Juice's 2.5-gallon bag in a box and 5-gallon hot pack labeled 'pumpkin' in addition to their 30-, 60-, and 275-gallon bulk containers also labeled 'pumpkin.' The last two years have also seen an alarming and unexplained rise in recalls. In 2024, approximately 300 food recalls were issued, with those recalls being linked to nearly 1,400 illnesses, a Public Interest Research Group report revealed. Out of the 1,400 illnesses, 487 people became sick enough to require hospitalization, and 19 people died. While those numbers are still low when weighed against the entire U.S. population, they are also double the number of hospitalizations and deaths from food-borne illnesses in 2023. In May, cucumbers sold across the country were recalled after people in 15 states reported getting ill from salmonella. Florida-based Bedner Growers, Inc. recalled the vegetables distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales, Inc. from April 29 to May 19.

Lawmakers urge Trump administration to clamp down on illicit GLP-1 sales
Lawmakers urge Trump administration to clamp down on illicit GLP-1 sales

The Hill

timean hour ago

  • The Hill

Lawmakers urge Trump administration to clamp down on illicit GLP-1 sales

A bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers is calling on the Trump administration to address the continued sale of illicit, compounded GLP-1 products, warning that consumers may be accessing these drugs without knowing the product could be fraudulent. North Carolina Reps. Brad Knott (R) and Deborah Ross (D) wrote to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, imploring them to end the sale of 'counterfeit, research-grade and illegal copycats' of popular GLP-1 medications. When the commercial, branded versions of tirzepatide and semaglutide were declared to no longer be in shortage, compounding pharmacies were disallowed from continuing to sell compounded versions of those drugs. While telehealth companies have transitioned away from compounded versions, state officials have warned that 'copycat' drugs have proliferated in the months since the shortages ended. Earlier this year, the National Association of Attorneys General sent a letter to the FDA to warn that 'counterfeit GLP-1 drugs have infiltrated the U.S. supply chain from China, Turkey, India, and other foreign sources.' According to the attorneys general, online retailers sell the active ingredient for the GLP-1s under the claim that they're 'for research purposes only' or 'not for human consumption' while still marketing them to consumers on social media. The FDA issued a warning in April, telling consumers to not take counterfeit Ozempic. The drug's manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, had alerted the agency that several hundred units of counterfeit product had entered the U.S. supply chain. At the time, the FDA said it was aware of six adverse events associated with the counterfeit products. Though the FBI issued a public service warning soon after the letter from the attorneys general was sent, Knott and Ross said raising public awareness wasn't enough. 'FDA has received hundreds of reports of adverse events, even some resulting in the hospitalization and death of patients who used illicit GLP-1s,' they wrote. 'This is likely a significant underreporting of adverse events experienced by patients because federal law does not require state-licensed pharmacies that are not outsourcing facilities to submit adverse events to FDA.' The lawmakers asked that the Trump Cabinet members fully use 'the legal tools at your discretion' to further detect illicit and enforce U.S. drug standards. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) sent his own letter to Cabinet members, calling for enhanced collaboration among agencies like FDA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Justice Department in order to stop the counterfeit products from reaching the supply chain in the first place. The Hill has reached out to the agencies named in the letter for comment.

Trump-backed pesticide report led by RFK Jr. draws fire from agrichemical industry
Trump-backed pesticide report led by RFK Jr. draws fire from agrichemical industry

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Trump-backed pesticide report led by RFK Jr. draws fire from agrichemical industry

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes remarks at a May 22 event announcing the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Commission in the East Room of the White House (Joyce N. Boghosian/The White House). A new report linking pesticide overuse to children's health issues has ignited a battle within President Donald Trump's circle of support, pitting powerful agrichemical giants against some organic food advocates. Last month, the Make America Healthy Again commission, chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., published a report on declining childhood health metrics. One of the leading culprits, according to the report, was the more than 1 billion pounds of pesticides used annually on the nation's crops. 'This administration has done something that no other administration has ever done, which is to acknowledge the impact of toxic chemicals and products in our environment and in our society that are contributing to our physical and mental and reproductive health crisis,' said Zen Honeycutt, executive director of Moms Across America, a nonprofit that has called for a ban on dozens of pesticides. The organization and others like it have mobilized around Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again campaign. Referred to by some as 'MAHA moms,' the coalition of health advocates has become fierce supporters of Trump. While the MAHA report stated pesticides are commonly found in the bloodstream of America's children — 'some at alarming levels' — Honeycutt wished the report had gone further. She also believes the report downplayed the amount of scientific research already showing links between pesticides and cancer, reproductive health harm and respiratory damage. 'But what gives me hope is what Trump has said and what Kennedy is saying and what the science shows,' Honeycutt said. 'If they continue to honor their word … and they acknowledge that pesticides are contributing to human health conditions, then the only steps to be taken will be to at least reduce the exposure of these chemicals to human beings.' However, Trump is facing opposition to the report from another key constituency — farmers. 'It is deeply troubling for the White House to endorse a report that sows seeds of doubt and fear about our food system and farming practices,' said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Pesticides — used to control weeds and insects — are used by most farmers. The Farm Bureau and several agrichemical groups said any effort to reduce pesticide use would decrease food production and harm farm income. 'This report will stir unjustified fear and confusion among American consumers, who live in the country with the safest and most abundant food supply,' said Alexandra Dunn, president and CEO of CropLife America, a national organization representing many large agrichemical companies, including Bayer, Corteva Agriscience and Syngenta. Pesticide companies are in a position to push back on the MAHA report, especially after years of increased spending on federal lobbyists and political donations. Bayer, the maker of the weedkiller Roundup, has faced an onslaught of lawsuits claiming its glyphosate product is to blame for thousands of cancer cases. In 2020, the company agreed to pay nearly $11 billion to more than 120,000 people who claimed the herbicide caused their cancer. The company has increased its federal lobbying and political spending in recent years, and has also pushed for state-level laws that would shield it from further lawsuits. Trump's campaign and presidency have received millions of dollars in donations from the world's largest agrichemical companies. The White House did not respond to a question about political contributions and its potential influence. During Trump's first term, deregulation was a central theme for both his environmental and agriculture agencies. His EPA overturned an Obama-era ban on chlorpyrifos despite science linking the pesticide to numerous childhood health issues. In his second term, Trump has cut funding for scientific research at numerous agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Environmental Protection Agency is also considering a proposal to prevent states from requiring warning labels on pesticides, including glyphosate. However, when the MAHA report was released, Kennedy attempted to portray the president as someone willing to further regulate the pesticide industry. '(Trump is) blamed for giving money to billionaires, we hear about that all the time, but he is on the side of the middle class, the working class, the poor in this country,' Kennedy said at a May 22 MAHA commission meeting as the president sat smiling to his right. 'I've met every president since my uncle was president, and I've never seen a president (like Trump), Democrat or Republican, that is willing to stand up to industry when it's the right thing to do.' George Kimbrell, co-executive director of the Center for Food Safety, which has advocated for stronger pesticide regulations, called the MAHA report a 'baby step' in the right direction and acknowledged the tone over pesticide regulations could be shifting. 'Going back my entire career, 20-plus years now of doing this work, it doesn't matter if it's a Democratic administration or a Republican administration, they have been beholden to and done the wishes of the pesticide industry,' Kimbrell told Investigate Midwest. 'So, this is a unique moment where … there's a chance that there could be some positive change in terms of responsible oversight for these toxins.' While some pesticide opponents hope the MAHA report encourages congressional action, Kimbrell said there are several steps within Trump's control. The Center for Food Safety, along with several other organizations, has asked the EPA to cancel all registrations of glyphosate herbicide, after the agency failed to demonstrate it can meet the required Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act safety standard. Dicamba herbicides are banned this year from over-the-top applications, but Monsanto and other companies have asked the EPA to approve them for next year. 'That's a simple thing the administration can do, just don't reapprove it,' Kimbrell said. Pesticide opponents want to see policies and more funding devoted to organic farming practices. However, the Trump administration has moved to limit farmer resources to organic and climate-smart practices, including the removal of climate data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's website, which organic farmers have relied on. Following a lawsuit by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, the USDA agreed to return the data. While spotlighting the dangers of pesticides, the MAHA report also acknowledged that 'American farmers rely on these products' and that the economic impact of removing pesticides must be considered. Honeycutt, with Moms Across America, wondered why the pesticide section of the report was the only one to highlight economic challenges with imposing new policies. 'It is understood that the farming industry needs to be able to operate profitably, but I find it counter to the intent of this report that this is the only section, out of the dozens of contributing factors to health concerns, in which this type of wording is being used,' Honeycutt wrote. Pesticide opponents note that organic crop sales have quadrupled since 2001, topping $20 billion in 2021, according to the USDA. Harriet Behar, a farm services consultant for the Organic Farmers Association, said she disagrees with the notion that farmers need pesticides to be profitable. 'We've figured out ways to produce high-quality and abundant food without the use of glyphosate,' Behar said. For 35 years, Behar worked as an organic farm inspector. As she met new organic farmers, she would always ask why they chose to go organic. 'And the farmer would say, 'My uncle died of cancer, my wife was a breast cancer survivor, my child had leukemia,' ' Behar said. 'They see the connection between the pesticide uses and they just didn't want to continue, so they went organic.' This article first appeared on Investigate Midwest and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store