The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week said it will ban Red Dye No. 3, a food additive used in thousands of food products sold in U.S. stores.
Even tough the dye was banned from certain medications and cosmetics in the early 1990s after a study found it was linked to cancer, it has persisted in appearing in ingredient lists in primarily snacks and other processed foods.
Because there are thousands of food products that contain the additive, here are some of the product categories where the dye is most likely to show up. Shoppers are advised to check food ingredient labels to see if an item includes Red 3, which is also known as erythrosine as well as FD&C Red No. 3….