By LINDA BOYLE
On April 22, 2025, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary announced their plan to phase out eight harmful petroleum-based synthetic dyes in foods. The dyes up for removal are found in foods such as Pop-Tarts, hot dog casings, Takis tortilla chips, and Mountain Dew soda.
To assist with this transition, the FDA will be authorizing four natural color alternatives and will accelerate the review of others.
One of those synthetic dyes is Red No. 3 which is already slated to be out of our food by 2027-2028. Bear in mind, this dye was removed from cosmetics because of its potential cancer risk nearly 35 years ago. Somehow, it was more important to protect our faces than it was to protect our children.
The FDA plans to pressure food companies to speed up that elimination process. The Red No. 3 dye is found in cakes, cupcakes, candy and frosting and “has been linked to cancer and behavioral issues,” according to the FDA.
Dr. Makary discussed studies such as one done by The Lancet that “raised concerns about the ‘correlation’ between petroleum-based synthetic dyes and ailments such as hyperactivity, obesity, diabetes, cancer, gastrointestinal problems, allergies and more.”
California, so often maligned for doing the wrong thing, is actually doing what’s right and leading the charge. Last year, California banned six dyes from use in public school lunches.
“Evidence shows that synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral outcomes in some children,” said California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment Director Dr. Lauren Zeise. “With increasing numbers of U.S. children diagnosed with behavioral disorders, this assessment can inform efforts to protect children from exposures that may exacerbate behavioral problems.”
Many of these dyes have already been banned in European countries. Why have the dyes not been banned in the US? What’s the difference between the two approaches?
The European Union and other countries follow what is called the “precautionary principle” meaning the manufacturer must prove the additive is safe prior to gaining approval.
In the US, the government uses the GRAS principle which is “generally recognized as safe.” This GRAS principle was written into the 1958 Amendment to the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. We “assume an additive is safe unless there is solid proof it is not.”
Who determines if the additive is safe? There is a loophole in the law. The food companies can set up their own panels and self-certify without any independent review from the FDA. Many additives on today’s market were added to our food through this backdoor process.
This shows how food additives are banned in Europe but still widely used in the United States. The sad part is we may be eating unsafe and unhealthy food for decades before finding out they may cause cancer or other health problems.
A Forbes article by Jesse Pines, who is an expert on healthcare innovation, gives three good examples:
Red Dye No. 3: A vibrant synthetic dye used in gummies, candies and snack cakes; Red Dye No. 3 has been shown to cause thyroid tumors in lab rats. Although banned in European food and in US cosmetics, it’s still found in a variety of products on American grocery shelves. The FDA plans to phase it out by 2027, a timeline that may be accelerated given the recent announcement.
Potassium Bromate: This is a chemical that’s used to enhance dough elasticity in breads and buns. Yet, potassium bromate is also classified as a possible human carcinogen. It’s banned in the EU, UK, Canada and Japan but remains common in US baked goods and in major fast-food chains.
Titanium Dioxide: This a whitening agent found in products like ultra-processed baked products and cheese. Titanium dioxide is banned in Europe due to concerns about DNA damage. Yet it’s still legal in the US.
Meanwhile, approximately 99% of new chemicals added to the US food supply between 2000 and 2021 came through the GRAS process rather than through a thorough FDA review, according to Environmental Working Group. And the panels used to evaluate these new additives were funded by the same companies who wanted to add them to our food. Can you say, “conflict of interest”?
The European Union in 2010 began to systematically review all food chemicals allowed in Europe to decide if those additives were still safe.
We, on the other hand, are just allowing food companies to hire their own panels and tell us the food additives are safe.
I saw a television segment during which a previous FDA official was discussing what RFK Jr. is trying to do to make our food supply safer. He stated he thought we shouldn’t be banning additives until we can prove they harm us.
Maybe I am too pragmatic. If the European Union determined these additives were harmful to us and our children, why not just follow its lead? Especially since we are talking about behavioral problems in our children and potential for cancer for us all.
Oh wait! The food companies are big business, and they have funds to share with those in Congress whose support they need.
Is it more important to keep our food supply safe or bow to the demands of the food industry?
Is it more important to protect our children from colorful food dyes which may cause irreparable harm?
Always follow the money to find the truth.
Linda Boyle, RN, MSN, DM, was formerly the chief nurse for the 3rd Medical Group, JBER, and was the interim director of the Alaska VA. Most recently, she served as Director for Central Alabama VA Healthcare System. She is the director of the Alaska Covid Alliance/Alaskans 4 Personal Freedom.
Good idea. And since Europe is so far ahead of us on safety, specifically food colorings and other food-related issues, why not also follow their lead on guns?
Perfectly logical, right?
Your sarcasm is so good it puts you back on the rigt side of the fence. Now stay there dog. Good boy
“Ban Knives Save Lives” #lookitup
The article discusses the safety of poison dyes, which have been present in our food system. Yes their removal is what is safest for our society. Who knows once removed from the system people like you may awaken. A armed society is a polite society. Not all European countries gave up their arms, the ones that did will wish they hadn’t soon enough.
Speculation.
Do not worry, the English and Germans will be wishing they still had theirs.
Not perfectly logical, Whidbey. Perfectly idiotic and a hasty generalization. But you know that in your heart of hearts that just because a government does one thing good does not mean it does all things good. Take your pal Hitler, who was a vegetarian. That’s good, right? Nice and healthy. Fully 10% of Europeans are vegetarians, compared to 4% of Americans. So why not follow Hitler’s lead on gun control, Whidbey? In his 1938 act, he even prohibited Jews from working in the firearms manufacturing, and he banned .22 caliber hollow-point ammunition. So we should do that? Perfectly logical, right? Dumb-as*.
Yes Whidbey, and you should drive on the left side of the road from now on. Do us all a favor.
“Europe is so far ahead of us on safety”
Prove it.
Almost no gun deaths. And with regard to food dye, well, that’t the entire point of the Boyle article. Geez.
Red Dye #3 out in 2 to 3 more years.
Its amazing how much political pull these food and chemical companies have to slow walk a harmful chemical from our food! Come on, its been known to be harmful since 1990. Its not just the food and chemical companies that are corrupt, it the FDA’s corruption that played this out with them.
What can anyone say. The article avocates for following someone’s lead instead of not.
I wouldn’t follow Europe’s lead on anything. By and large, they’re hard-core socialists, and the EU is nothing but a bunch of overpaid bureaucrats who spend their 4 hour workday during their two day workweek making up regulations.
I agree that all the crap should be taken out of our food but we should make those decisions independent of Europe and based on our own health studies.
And who will do or manage those studies when the government agencies that do that sort of thing have all been DOGE’d?
DOGE are the ones who uncovered USAID as the economic crutch which has supported these socialist utopias in Europe. With out those funds Europe is in panic and i feel the EU will collapse in the next 3.5 years without the USA funds.
We should ban everything that’s known to cause cancer in the state of California
That would leave us with…….. never mind.
On that note. 90% of the “elected “ officials of California should have a label stating “known to cause cancer to the United States of America”
Why don’t we follow Europe’s lead on toxic dye in foods? Which lobbyists, corporations, NGOs and non-profits donate more to congress? The toxic food dye industry or the MAHA industry. The answer is clear. The next question is how much $ from the food dye industry goes into Lisa Murkowski’s campaign? Great opportunity for a follow-up article, me thinks.
The health food industry has known about the dangers of food coloring since the early 80’s.Hence the use of vegetable coloring in their product’s and not just including food(makeup shampoos etc).But back in the day you were considered a conspiracy theorist.
Dear Ol Whidbey Thedog, have you been to Europe lately??? I have! There is a reason why immigrants come to America. It’s for the freedoms we have. One being the right to arm ourselves against those who want to harm us. I suggest you take your belongings and your slingshot and move to Europe. Enjoy.
Yes, 3 months ago. I lived there for five years, and I’d love to live there again, actually. Happily, if I did, I could still read MRAK.
It figures.
And you probably just love the EU(SSR) also.
You are hopelessly brainwashed and Stockholm Syndromed to the nth degree.
Never, never, never will I understand people like you, cowardly lemmings and conformists who spit on freedom.
Well, I don’t live every day seething with anger like you, if that helps.
Freedom has limits, and I’ve got all of it that I need. You seem to believe that you’re somehow oppressed, all the while living in the freest state in the freest country on the planet. You should be grateful instead of being bitter.
And I rest my case.
Your stupidity, gullibility and flat-out profound ignorance are fully on parade here yet again. There is no hope for you and for those like you, none at all.
Always insults and abuse, never clearly stated logic to oppose those who challenge you. Tiresome.
Contempt or pity?? Hmm.
I use that line frequently in decision making: “Follow the Money” and also, “Who Benefits?”
I hope the dyes are removed quickly, but the ones I strongly avoid are Yellow #1 and Brown #2.
I also am very suspicious of all the “Natural Flavors” found in food. Why does butter need Natural Flavor? The only unnatural flavor I can think of is blue raspberry. There is not much natural about them.
There are some big problems with removing them “because Europe does.” Europe is not a great role model in decisions.
Next might be dental filling materials. Remember to follow the money and ask who benefits.
Education for better consuming-decisions is way better than bans by government.
Push for truth (and clarity) in labeling.
Choppy composition, sorry
We should not be promoting sugary cereals as breakfast food for children either.
Candy and soda should also not be promoted or consumed.
Let us also discourage heavy alcohol consumption.
Or we just let everyone enjoy their vices and continue to make poor health decisions for themselves. It only overloads the medial system and keeps people fat and unhealthy, but who cares? Their body their choice right?
Everything in life is about choice. If the people wanted to be healthy, then most of these “food” products would have faded away long ago. But people as a whole, are retarded.
Carry on humanity.
Ban blue hair dye next
What would the radical leftist extremists do without their Crayola-colored hair?
The horror!