FDA finally bans a single food dye, known to cause cancer, but lets it remain in food until 2027. Consider 5 facts providing vital context + 95 references by date.
Don't miss fact #5: An "urgent" call in The New England Journal of Medicine from 20 researchers (from EPA, UN and elsewhere) for better protection of children.
Contents
Dealing with Poisons
Getting Perspective: 5 Facts
Synthetic Food Dyes: Tumors, asthma, neurological damage, ADHD, anxiety, depression, more
Artificial Sweeteners, High-Fructose Corn Syrup: Alzheimer’s, seizures, cancers, more
Emulsifiers, Carrageenan: Inflammatory bowel disease, anxiety, more
95 References by Date
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Dealing with Poisons
A Severe Betrayal: Man-Made Poisons — The desire of industry decision-makers to produce toxic (poisonous) chemicals—that they can profit from—has proven insatiable. The EPA has documented more than 80,000 poisons.
Oxidative Stress & Detoxification — Oxidative stress refers to a serious imbalance at the cellular level that is at the root of health issues. Detoxification is one of many natural processes of the human body and is conducted through various organs. The ability to effectively expel waste and toxins through multiple elimination pathways is crucial for optimizing health.
Pesticides, Glyphosate — Includes atrazine, CFS, DDT, fungicides. Harms: increased cancers, tumors, stillbirth, autism, brain damage, respiratory issues, liver disease, IBD, microbiome disruption, biodiversity loss, and damage to honeybees.
EDCs & Microplastics — Includes BPA, dioxins, parabens, PCBs, PE, PFAS, phenols, phthalates. Harms include ADHD, autism, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, children’s IQ decline, demasculinizing, diabetes, fertility issues, pregnancy complications, thyroid dysfunction, weight gain.
Fluoride — Fluoride is a neurotoxin, meaning it is a poisonous substance that disrupts the functioning of the nervous system. Harms include lower IQ in children, cancer, and osteoporosis.
Heavy Metals — Includes aluminum, antimony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel. Harms include cellular damage, bone diseases, Alzheimer’s, autism, liver and kidney damage, cancer, heart disease, heart failure, stroke, death.
Synthetic Food Additives (you’re here) — Includes emulsifiers, carrageenan, food dyes, artificial sweeteners, preservatives. Harms include tumors, asthma, neurological damage, ADHD, anxiety, and depression.
Air Pollution, VOCs & Other Toxins — Includes formaldehyde, GenX chemicals, PAHs, particle pollution, radon, TCDF, vinyl chloride, VOCs, TCE.
Getting Perspective: 5 Facts
A ruling by the FDA on January 15, 2025 is getting a lot of coverage. Please consider the following five facts — critical for putting the ruling in proper perspective, and for inspiring citizens to take their power back from verifiably corrupt agencies.
In 2022, a consumer group petitioned the FDA to remove red dye 3 from approved use, noting that the FDA “has already found this color additive causes cancer in laboratory animals and subsequent studies and reviews have reinforced that conclusion.”
The previous year, in 2021 (after 30 years of delays), the FDA had banned the cancer-causing red dye in cosmetics, but didn’t take action on its use in food and medicine.
On January 15, 2025, the FDA finally responded to the 2022 petition, making the ruling on red dye 3 that consumers demanded. But the FDA isn’t making it effective until 2027 (in foods) and 2028 (in drugs).
As of May 2024, the EPA says more than 40,000 poisons are in active use.
“Children are suffering and dying from diseases that emerging scientific research links to chemical exposures, findings that require urgent revamping of laws around the world, according to a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Authored by more than 20 leading public health researchers, including one from the US EPA and another from the United Nations, the paper lays out ‘a large body of evidence’ linking multiple childhood diseases to synthetic chemicals, and recommends a series of aggressive actions to… better protect children.” [The New Lede, Jan 8, 2025]
A Tiny Drop in an Ocean of Chemicals
Americans have been consuming Red No. 3 since 1907—and it took the FDA nearly 118 years to ban this additive from the food supply despite removing it from cosmetics more than 30 years ago after studies linked it to cancer in animals… The FDA currently allows… other artificial color additives in foods… These dyes have also been linked to various health concerns, including hyperactivity in children, allergic reactions, and potential carcinogenic effects. How many food additives remain in circulation simply because the FDA doesn’t want to expend the effort to regulate them? This is a rhetorical question. There are too many to count.” -Megan Redshaw
Children are Suffering and Dying from Diseases Caused by the Onslaught of Toxic Chemicals
Children are suffering and dying from diseases that emerging scientific research links to chemical exposures, findings that require urgent revamping of laws around the world, according to a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Authored by more than 20 leading public health researchers, including one from the US EPA and another from the United Nations, the paper lays out “a large body of evidence” linking multiple childhood diseases to synthetic chemicals, and recommends a series of aggressive actions to… better protect children. The paper is a “call to arms” to forge an “actual commitment to the health of our children,” said a co-author of the paper. – The New Lede, Jan 8, 2025
Synthetic Food Dyes: Tumors, asthma, neurological damage, ADHD, anxiety, depression, more
Outdated FDA standards expose Americans to toxic food dyes linked to cancer, neurobehavioral issues, and other health risks, demanding urgent regulatory action. - Nicolas Hulscher, MPH
Artificial (synthetic) dyes add color to food.
Synthetic food dyes include tartrazine (yellow #5), blue #1, red #3, red #40 and others. The dye with official name FD&C Red No 3 has also been called erythrosine, E127 and xanthene among other names.
“Synthetic dyes are essentially useless. They don’t help preserve food or add any nutritional value; their job is to entice.” In addition to food, synthetic dyes are found in some personal care items such as make-up and hair products, and in some medications. [source]
Artificial food dyes are in “nearly all candies and fruit-flavored snacks sold in conventional American grocery stores. They’re on the ingredient list of hundreds of thousands of branded food items, from Fruit Loops and Trix Cereal to Gatorade and Skittles.” [source] “Batada et al found that nearly half (43%) of grocery store products contained artificial food colorings… Candies (96%), fruit-flavored snacks (94%), and drink mixes/powders (90%) had the highest prevalence, while produce contained none.” [source]
Animal studies show that synthetic food dyes have neurological effects, “affecting memory and learning, [causing] changes in the brain’s neurotransmitters (chemicals that carry signals from one nerve to the next), and… brain structure.” [source and source and source and source]
Health effects linked to synthetic food colorings in children include: neurobehavioral disorders, allergic reactions, carcinogenic and mutagenic potential, gastrointestinal and respiratory issues, toxicity, developmental and growth delays, and behavioral changes. [source]
“Titanium dioxide is the most widely used whitening pigment in the world and has been linked to adverse health effects, particularly genotoxicity and intestinal inflammation. It is applied as a food coloring and a whitening agent to a wide variety of foods, including chewing gum, cakes, candies, breads and ice cream. Because of health risks, France banned titanium dioxide as a food additive in 2020. Two years later the European Union also banned titanium dioxide as a food additive. But in the U.S., titanium dioxide is found all over the grocery shelves.” [source]
Studies with children confirm the neurological and behavioral impacts. “ ‘Evidence shows that synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral outcomes in some children.’ The report is the product of a two-year evaluation of seven synthetic food dyes that have been approved by the FDA. OEHHA extensively reviewed existing studies of the effects of these dyes on both humans and laboratory animals. ‘Challenge studies’ placed the children on a dye-free diet for several weeks and measured their behavior. The children were then given food or drinks with dyes added, and measures of their behavior were recorded by a number of standardized methods… Researchers also found that all of the FDA’s Acceptable Daily Intake levels (ADIs) for synthetic food dyes are based on 35- to 70-year-old studies that were not designed to detect the types of behavioral effects that have been observed in children.” [source and source and source]
“The OEHHA report noted that children’s exposure to synthetic dyes should be reduced. It stated that some of the effects of dyes on children are: hyperactivity, inattentiveness, restlessness, sleeplessness, irritability, aggression.” [source]
“Synthetic dyes have a long and troubled history. Lead chromate, arsenic and additives made from coal tar were some of the first iterations, packing a poisonous punch for 19th and 20th century consumers. In 1950, dozens of children fell ill after consuming Halloween candy tainted with a dangerous dye, Orange 1.” [source]
“Tartrazine (Yellow Dye #5) is an example of a harmful food additive, originally derived from coal tar and now from petroleum. Tartrazine causes various health issues, including tumors, asthma, developmental delays, neurological damage, ADD/ADHD, hormone disruption, gene damage, anxiety, depression, and intestinal injuries. Many common foods, including those marketed as healthy or for children, contain tartrazine and other potentially harmful additives… Some countries require warning labels on foods containing certain additives like tartrazine, particularly regarding potential effects on children. There is a connection between food additives and increased use of medications like Adderall, Prozac, and asthma inhalers.” [source and source and source and source]
“Industry studies linked red dye No. 3 to cancer in rodents more than 30 years ago, and public health groups have spent years lobbying food companies and regulators to get the chemical out of foods.” [source and source]
‘Synthetic dye makes their food more brightly colored, more attractive to kids, and I think it helps them sell their products.’ … Foods with synthetic dyes aren’t packaged with a warning label in the United States, so sifting through individual product labels is usually the only way to decipher exactly which food items contain which dyes. – Environmental Working Group & Science News
Naturally occurring color additives from vegetable and mineral sources were used to color foods, drugs, and cosmetics in ancient times. Paprika, turmeric, saffron, iron and lead oxides, and copper sulfate are some examples… In 1856, William Henry Perkin discovered the first synthetic… dye… Discoveries of similar dyes soon followed and they quickly became used to color foods, drugs, and cosmetics. Because these dyes were first produced from by-products of coal processing, they were known as “coal-tar colors.” … Butter and cheese were the first foods for which the federal government authorized the use of artificial coloring. By 1900, many foods, drugs and cosmetics available in the U.S. were artificially colored. However, not all of the coloring agents were harmless and some were being used to hide inferior or defective foods. A careful assessment of the chemicals used for coloring foods at the time found many blatantly poisonous materials such as lead, arsenic, and mercury being added. In many cases, the toxicities of the starting materials for synthesizing coloring agents were well known and could be toxins, irritants, sensitizers, or carcinogens… In 1906, Congress passed the Food and Drugs Act, which prohibited the use of poisonous or deleterious colors in confectionery and the coloring or staining of food to conceal damage or inferiority… In 1927, responsibility for enforcing the Food and Drugs Act of 1906 was given to the newly established FDA.” – Food Safety Magazine
Artificial Sweeteners, High-Fructose Corn Syrup: Alzheimer’s, seizures, cancers, more
Industrial food producers use high-fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), sucralose (Splenda), and saccharin, all of which create harm.
“Artificial sweeteners cause DNA damage in, and interfere with, normal activity in gut bacteria, making it difficult for beneficial bacteria to communicate, grow and reproduce. Destruction of healthy bacteria opens the door to increased growth of unfriendly microorganisms that cause health problems. Artificial sweeteners trick your body into storing fat, stimulate your appetite, increase cravings for carbohydrates and… lead to the progression of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.” [source]
“Seven commonly used artificial sweeteners (Aspartame, Acesulfame, Sucralose, NHDC, Cyclamate, Neotame, and Saccharin)… increase the risk of kidney cancer, low-grade glioma, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.” [source]
“Research has linked aspartame consumption to various neurological symptoms, including headaches and migraines, seizures and cognitive impairment… When metabolized, aspartame breaks down into phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol. The latter converts to formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, in the body.” [source and source and source]
“Dozens of studies have linked the popular artificial sweetener aspartame to serious health problems, including
