Red Dye No. 3 is an approved, safe coloring for the food on your shelf
The core idea stands, but key numbers or details have changed.
TaughtFD&C Red No. 3 (erythrosine) is a federally approved color additive, used for decades in candy, drinks, and medicines. It is on the shelf, so it must be considered safe to eat.
NowOn 15 January 2025 the FDA revoked the authorization for Red No. 3 in food and ingested drugs, ordering it removed from the food supply. The dye had already been banned from cosmetics in 1990; the food ban closes a 35-year gap.
What actually happened
The reason is a quirk of law worth knowing. The Delaney Clause forbids the FDA from approving any additive shown to cause cancer in humans or animals, and Red No. 3 causes thyroid tumors in male rats at high doses. The agency is explicit that the way it causes those tumors in rats does not occur in humans at the levels people are exposed to, so this is a legal trigger, not a finding that the dye gives people cancer.
That nuance is exactly why this is 'updated,' not a tale of a proven poison. What changed is factual and enforceable regardless of the mechanism debate: the specific claim that Red No. 3 is an approved food color is now false in the United States. Manufacturers have until 2027–2028 to reformulate, and the same dye remains legal in some other countries.
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Who was taught this
Still standard through 2025, so anyone who finished school between 1950 and 2025 learned the earlier version.