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By Consumer Reports

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Making Food Safer

What’s at stake: Red Dye No. 3 has been shown to cause cancer in animals and has been linked to hyperactivity and other behavioral effects in children. The Food and Drug Administration even banned the use of the artificial colorant in cosmetics in 1990, after evidence of its potential harms mounted.

Yet Red Dye No. 3 is still allowed to be used in food. Experts are especially troubled by this because so many products containing the substance—candy, baked goods, fruit juice, hot dogs, and more—are marketed to children, who are particularly vulnerable to developmental harm.

What CR is doing about it: In 2022, CR joined a petition calling on the FDA to ban Red Dye No. 3 in food. In October 2024 we delivered another petition to the agency, signed by some 80,000 consumers, urging the same. And we co-sponsored a 2023 California law that—starting Jan. 1, 2027—bans the use of Red Dye No. 3 and three other dangerous food additives in the state.

In January, the FDA announced a federal ban. Food manufacturers have until Jan. 15, 2027, to reformulate their products nationwide.

CR’s food safety experts say this move is a step in the right direction—and are now urging the FDA to do more to limit the use of the other common food ingredients, including artificial food dyes, that have been linked to health problems.

What you can do: Please support these efforts by signing our petition urging the FDA to remove all artificial food dyes from our food. Meanwhile, the best way to avoid these and other chemicals is to read the ingredients lists of the foods you eat. If they’re in the food, they will usually be listed there.

Call to Action

Many Americans don’t realize that if they own a car made in the past five years, it is likely collecting data about their driving habits, such as how fast they accelerate and take turns—intel that insurance companies can use to raise their rates. In fact, General Motors recently settled claims by the Federal Trade Commission that it was sharing such driving data without consumers’ permission. And a new investigation by CR indicates that nearly every automaker selling cars in the U.S. is doing the same thing, even after the GM settlement. Join us in calling on automakers to stop sharing your driving info with data brokers, by signing our petition.

Editor’s Note: This article also appeared in the May/June 2025 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.

Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2025, Consumer Reports, Inc.