Red No. 3 Food Dye Has Been Banned. Are Other Colorings Next?

US regulators announced a ban on Red No. 3 dye in the final days of the Biden administration after decades of concern about potential links to cancer. With Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a critic of food additives, now at the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services, other ingredients and dyes are likely to face scrutiny.

Consumer advocates for years have pointed to studies that raised questions about the safety of other food colorings, and Kennedy has pledged to make cereal companies remove the dyes from their products in the US. In March, he began acting on that goal, telling executives of major food companies that he would take action if they failed to remove artificial coloring.