Friend,

Ever heard of the food additive "red No. 3"? It's used to give foods, especially kids' treats such as freeze pops and strawberry milk, their red color.

For decades, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has known of a link between Red 3 and cancer in lab rat tests -- and yet it has not taken action to keep the chemical away from our food.1,2

But right now, with a call currently building for the FDA to finally act on toxic Red 3, we have a chance to convince our decision-makers that a bright red ice pop isn't worth exposing our families to this cancer risk. Send your message to the FDA today.

In a particularly ironic example of how Red 3 is used in our food, it's one of the ingredients in PediaSure's Grow & Gain Kids' Ready-to-Drink strawberry shake (which also contains no strawberries).3 In total, nearly 3,000 brand-name food products contain Red 3.4

Since 1960, our nation's food laws have required the FDA to not approve or remove from approval any food, drug or cosmetic additives that cause cancer in humans or animals. Based on this directive, the agency has already banned Red 3 for use in externally applied drugs and cosmetics.

That ban was enacted in 1990 -- and the same year, FDA said it would also "take steps" to ban the use of Red 3 in foods, ingested drugs and supplements. But 30 years later, consumers are still waiting on those steps to protect our families from this toxic food additive.5

Tell the FDA: Remove Red 3 from the list of approved color additives in foods, dietary supplements and oral medicines.

In 2021 alone, the food and drug industries used more than 200,000 pounds of Red 3. And for what? To color our Halloween candy and make products labeled as strawberry-, cherry- or raspberry-flavored more attractive (or more believable)?

PIRG, along with dozens of other advocacy organizations and individual scientists, recently signed onto a letter formally urging the FDA to finally do its job and get toxic Red 3 out of our food.6

Your voice will be crucial to making sure the FDA hears this call loud and clear.

Take action today.

Thank you,

Faye Park
President

1. "FDA says it causes cancer. Yet it's in hundreds of candies." Center for Science in the Public Interest, October 25, 2022.
2. "Toxicology of food dyes," National Library of Medicine, September 2012.
3. "PediaSure Grow & Gain Kids' Nutritional Shake Strawberry Ready-to-Drink 6pk," HyVee, last accessed October 31, 2022.
4. "FDA says it causes cancer. Yet it's in hundreds of candies." Center for Science in the Public Interest, October 25, 2022.
5. "FDA says it causes cancer. Yet it's in hundreds of candies." Center for Science in the Public Interest, October 25, 2022.
6. "FDA says it causes cancer. Yet it's in hundreds of candies." Center for Science in the Public Interest, October 25, 2022.

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