Are We Dying for Food Dyes?

For several weeks every February, Valentine's Day gifts and goodies pollute the Gazebo’s shelves. Candy bags filled with sugary treats and red hearts grab our attention, advertising the now-transpired holiday, a day of love. In light of recent news, however, I am left wondering if our well-intentioned candy treats are more harmful than loving.

In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made the historic move of banning Red No. 3, a cherry red food dye. The dye, which consistently causes cancer in male rats, must be out of our food by Jan. 15, 2027, and out of ingested drugs by Jan. 18, 2028. This means that if your significant other cheats on you, you still have two years to legally gift them red candies of doom (the Student Movement is not responsible for your actions).

While this ban is big news, the push for the FDA to regulate food dyes more closely is anything but new. I’m sure we all had at least one classmate in elementary school whose mother refused to let them eat anything red. Many of these mothers insisted that food dyes made their children hyper or caused behavioral problems. And, as with most things, our mothers were right. Red No. 40 alone has potential side effects like hyperactivity and behavioral changes such as irritability and depression.

Red dyes are not our only problem: Some blues, yellows and greens are also on the chopping block. Many of these dyes contain benzene or benzidine, known carcinogens that result in various types of tumor growth when tested on rats. More than physical effects, these dyes can literally impact the way you think. Depending on the dye, effects may include restlessness, sleep disturbances, worsened memory or lowered learning capacity. For a dye-by-dye breakdown, try this link.

Recently, I became aware of just how concretely these findings affect daily life. I’m a psychology major interested in the field of child trauma and have been taking Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), a training model for working with children from hard places. I was shocked to learn that food dyes can be a huge stumbling block for sensitive children. One milligram of yellow dye No. 5 can be enough to increase irritability and restlessness in children. One milligram. For children already struggling with ADHD or mood challenges, food dyes can be yet another unseen obstacle to success.

I am not out of touch with reality. I know that at this point, you are probably thinking, If dyes were actually that bad, they would have been banned by now. So why aren’t they banned? Some will argue that the dye dosage is not high enough to cause issues in humans, but this argument ignores long-term cumulative effects. Others claim that there is not enough research and funding. Now let me give you my opinion (which I’m sure you are desperate to hear): Nothing changes because the American food industry does not want change. Red No. 3, mentioned at the beginning of this article, was banned in January. The FDA found out that it was cancerous in rats in 1992. That was more than 30 years ago. 

For a little context on policy, the Delaney Clause prohibits FDA authorization of any food additive that has been found to cause cancer in humans or animals. This clause is why Red No. 3 was recently banned, and it's also why the FDA intended to ban it back in 1992. So why didn't they take action? The FDA stated that “the agency decided not to take action at that time, given the resources required to remove this authorization.” A simple Google search will tell you that rich corporations started lobbying to avoid changing their ingredients. In summary, Americans were exposed to a potential carcinogen for 30 additional years because of money-driven politics. 

Up to this point, I have consumed little red heart candies regularly, and it saddens me deeply to part with them. So, what should we do to avoid harmful food dyes? Start checking ingredient lists. For those who can afford it, companies offering safe dye alternatives are becoming increasingly popular. Unfortunately, many Americans have no choice but to consume foods that are heavily processed and unhealthy. The reality is that harmful foods are usually the cheapest and most accessible to the general population. For now, we should do our best to reduce dyes where we can and, on weekends, write angry letters to senators. Tell them that Americans deserve affordable, healthy and safe food.