In a Senate hearing on food safety last week, Jim Jones, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, said an agency decision on banning FD&C Red No. 3 should be coming soon.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Dec. 5 grilled Jones and FDA Commissioner Robert Califf over a number of food safety issues. Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama asked specifically about Red 3 and Red 40, two FDA-approved color additives that have been linked to cancer and other health issues.
“We have not evaluated Red 40 in over a decade,” Jones replied, saying nothing more about that colorant. However, “On Red 3, we have a petition in front of us to revoke the authorization for it. And we’re hopeful that in the next few weeks we’ll be acting on that petition.”
While Jones didn’t say what that decision could be, it sounded like Red 3’s use as an approved food colorant was near its end.
Tuberville pressed the FDA executives on how any ingredient that’s proven to cause cancer in lab animals can be allowed in the nation’s food supply – especially since the Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires the FDA to ban any food additive that is found to cause cancer in humans or animals. And why is it taking so long?
Jones explained that while Red 3 was proven carcinogenic in rats, “the scientific consensus is that the mechanism of carcinogenicity in rats is not applicable in humans.”
Califf added, “Remember that when we do ban something, it will go to court. And if we don’t have all the scientific evidence, it won’t stand up in court.”
Because of its cancer connection, Red 3 was banned from use in cosmetics in 1990. It’s at the top of a list of food additives that several state legislatures are considering banning on a state-by-state basis.
