At the Center for Science in the Public Interest, we’re not just trying to make sure that safe sweeteners replace sugar in foods. For decades, we’ve also fought to get the Food and Drug Administration to ban synthetic food dyes that pose health risks.
As lovebirds everywhere ready themselves for a romantic evening filled with red roses, perhaps some red wine, and a pop of red lipstick, the last thing on anyone’s mind should be cancer. But thanks to FDA and the food industry, cancer is close to heart again this Valentine’s Day.
This petition was filed by CSPI, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, Center for Food Safety, Children’s Advocacy Institute, Consumer Federation of America, Environmental Working Group, Life Time Foundation, Public Health Institute, Linda S. Birnbaum, and Lisa Y. Lefferts.
Most artificially colored foods are colored with synthetic petroleum-based chemicals—called dyes—that do not occur in nature. Because food dyes are used almost solely in foods of low nutritional value (candy, soft drinks, gelatin desserts, etc.), a good rule of thumb is simply avoid all dyed foods.
It’s illegal to use the carcinogenic color additive Red 3 in cosmetics, such as lipsticks or blush, or externally applied drugs. Yet the discredited chemical is lurking in common varieties of candy corn, Nerds, Peeps, Pez, SweeTarts, and hundreds of candies, cakes, and other foods, including dozens of seasonal Halloween items.
The undersigned organizations urge the Biden Administration to adopt these policy recommendations to protect Americans from unsafe and inadequately tested food chemicals.
Evidence of the link between synthetic food dyes and neurobehavioral problems in children, including hyperactivity and inattention, has been accumulating for decades.
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) conducted the most sophisticated and rigorous assessment undertaken to date of the relationship between synthetic dyes and effects on child behavior.
