FDA bans red dye No. 3 from food and drinks in the US
Source: CNN Health
Published 10:06 AM EST, Wed January 15, 2025
CNN — The US Food and Drug Administration has banned the use of red dye No. 3 in food and ingested drugs, more than 30 years after scientists discovered links to cancer in animals, the agency announced Wednesday.
A synthetic color additive made from petroleum and chemically known as erythrosine, red dye No. 3 is used to give foods and beverages a bright cherry-red color.
The move acts on a November 2022 petition submitted by multiple advocacy organizations and individuals, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Environmental Working Group, which cited links to cancer. The decision by the federal agency also follows in the footsteps of California, whose government banned the additive in October 2023.
Manufacturers using red No. 3 in food and ingested drugs have until January 15, 2027, and January 18, 2028, respectively, to reformulate their products, according to the FDA. Foods imported to the United States also must comply with the requirements.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/15/health/red-dye-no-3-ban-fda-wellness/index.html
Bye bye hot pink peeps!
= new reply since forum marked as read
Red #3 remained (while Canada had banned it). Meanwhile, FDA had banned Red #2 in the mid-70s while it was legal in Canada. 
I expect it will be replaced with Carmine (cochineal).
Before I retired, I worked under 6 Presidents and as you move from administration to administration, you generally keep working on what you were working on until told to stop.
Probably all the tomato sauces for that matter.
I checked out of curiosity.
Citric acid. Preserves a lot of colorful compounds from oxidation.
Back in the early '80s I was lucky to get a job working in a restaurant. Saw an invoice for some commercial product to keep lettuce from "rusting" and was stunned at the price. Told the manager just to get a pound of citric acid. A week later she said it worked the same and cost 1/4 as much. 
These days I usually have a few pounds sitting around. Keeps apples from discoloring, not just lettuce. Add it to the turkey or chicken carcass/bones to get a bit of Ca and P from the bones for the broth--and calcium citrate is readily absorbed by the gut. Great for dissolving water scale from kettles and sinks and dishwashers. Removes rust stains from porcelain. Best of all, if you ingest it, say with apples or such, it just gets kicked into the Krebs cycle.
And if you're eccentric enough and experiment with yellow water as a fertilizer it can balance that to keep from screwing up soil pH. Or if you make soap and spill some of the slop before it sets up or added a bit too much NaOH the citric acid is great for neutralizing the lye.
Citric acid doesn't have as strong a "taste/smell" as something like acetic acid/vinegar and is why it is used for that preservative purpose. In some cases, you might see carbonic acid (which is stronger). To be a LACF (low acid canned food), the pH needs to be below 4.65 (have done a few LACF analyses back in the day).
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=73.100
[Title 21, Volume 1]
[CITE: 21CFR73.100]
TITLE 21--FOOD AND DRUGS
CHAPTER I--FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
SUBCHAPTER A - GENERAL
PART 73 -- LISTING OF COLOR ADDITIVES EXEMPT FROM CERTIFICATION
Subpart A - Foods
Sec. 73.100 Cochineal extract; carmine.
(a) Identity. (1) The color additive cochineal extract is the concentrated solution obtained after removing the alcohol from an aqueous-alcoholic extract of cochineal (Dactylopius coccus costa (Coccus cacti L.)). The coloring principle is chiefly carminic acid.
(2) The color additive carmine is the aluminum or calcium-aluminum lake on an aluminum hydroxide substrate of the coloring principles, chiefly carminic acid, obtained by an aqueous extraction of cochineal (Dactylopius coccus costa (Coccus cacti L.)).
(3) Color additive mixtures for food use made with cochineal extract or carmine may contain only diluents that are suitable and that are listed in this subpart as safe in color additive mixtures for coloring foods.
(b) Specifications. (1) Cochineal extract shall conform to the following specifications:
pH, not less than 5.0 and not more than 5.5 at 25 deg.C.
Protein (N * 6.25), not more than 2.2 percent.
Total solids, not less than 5.7 and not more than 6.3 percent.
Methyl alcohol, not more than 150 parts per million.
Lead (as Pb), not more than 10 parts per million.
Arsenic (as As), not more than 1 part per million.
Carminic acid, not less than 1.8 percent.
(2) Carmine shall conform to the following specifications:
Volatile matter (at 135 deg.C. for 3 hours), not more than 20.0 percent.
Ash, not more than 12.0 percent.
Lead (as Pb), not more than 10 parts per million.
Arsenic (as As), not more than 1 part per million.
Carminic acid, not less than 50.0 percent.
Carmine and cochineal extract shall be pasteurized or otherwise treated to destroy all viable Salmonella microorganisms. Pasteurization or such other treatment is deemed to permit the adding of safe and suitable substances (other than chemical preservatives) that are essential to the method of pasteurization or other treatment used. For the purposes of this paragraph, safe and suitable substances are those substances that perform a useful function in the pasteurization or other treatment to render the carmine and cochineal extract free of viable Salmonella microorganisms, which substances are not food additives as defined in section 201(s) of the act or, if they are food additives as so defined, are used in conformity with regulations established pursuant to section 409 of the act.
(c) Uses and restrictions. Carmine and cochineal extract may be safely used for coloring foods generally in amounts consistent with good manufacturing practice, except that they may not be used to color foods for which standards of identity have been promulgated under section 401 of the act unless added color is authorized by such standards.
(d) Labeling requirements. (1) The label of the color additives and any mixtures intended solely or in part for coloring purposes prepared therefrom shall conform to the requirements of § 70.25 of this chapter.
(2) The label of food products intended for human use, including butter, cheese, and ice cream, that contain cochineal extract or carmine shall specifically declare the presence of the color additive by listing its respective common or usual name, "cochineal extract" or "carmine," in the statement of ingredients in accordance with § 101.4 of this chapter.
(e) Exemption from certification. Certification of these color additives is not necessary for the protection of the public health, and therefore batches thereof are exempt from the certification requirements of section 721(c) of the act.
[42 FR 15643, Mar. 22, 1977, as amended at 74 FR 216, Jan. 5, 2009]
Carmine is the "extract" of the crushed insect that is diluted for use as a dye/colorant. Direct use of the crushed cochineal insect as the dye or colorant, retains the labeled name as "cochineal".
One should try to learn something new every day.
(I have done MANY MANY MANY color analyses - too numerous to count)
