The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just banned a food additive known as Red 3, on the grounds that it has been shown in animals studies to cause cancer. The synthetic food dye, which colours candies, drinks and cosmetics a lurid cherry-red colour, has also been banned in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It was banned in cosmetics in the US as long ago as 1990.
And yet, FD&C Red No. 3, or is perfectly legal in Canada. So, what gives?
It turns out it's all about legal niceties. There is a legal provision in the USA that obliges the FDA to ban food additives found to cause cancer in either humans or animals. The Canadian equivalent law only operates if a substance is found to cause cancer in humans.
You might think the American law is superior and we, here in Canada, should just ban the stuff anyway. But the two US rat studies that led to the ban found that Red 3 caused cancer in lab rats with a "rat-specific hormonal mechanism" that does not exist in humans. So, the effect of the additive on rats would almost certainly not translate into humans.
Canadian scientists agree that "evidence demonstrating human safety concern is lacking", and that "there is actually no evidence at all that it would be a danger in cosmetics". Moreover, a joint UN/WHO committee in 2018 looked at studies involving both humans and animals and found no safety concerns for the dye as a food additive.
That's not to say candies containing Red 3 will do you any good. Personally, I would steer well clear of anything coloured radioactive scarlet. And, a note to manufacturers, there are perfectly good natural dyes out there (beet juice extracts, anthocyanins extracted from berries, etc) without having to resort to synthetic crap just to sell a few more units.
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