Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs
The FDA issued an order on Wednesday banning Red No. 3 from use in foods and ingestible drugs over concerns that the additive could cause cancer.
This particular dye has been banned in cosmetics and topical drugs since 1990, but despite the FDA announcing an intent to further ban it in food in 1992, it took until this week to take action.
The move came following a a petition from the Center for Science in the Public Interest and 23 other organizations, which included data showing male lab rats exposed to high levels of Red No. 3 got cancer.
But CSPI’s Principal Scientist for Food Additives and Supplements, Thomas Galligan, says Red No. 3 isn’t the only food additive that’s been linked to harmful side effects including cancer. Speaking to The Post, he shared three other additives his organization would like to see banned next.
Aspartame
Aspartame is a zero-calorie artificial sweetener that can be found in lots of diet and sugar-free foods including soda, gum, gelatin, ice cream, breakfast cereal and yogurt. It’s also sold under brand names like Nutrasweet, Equal, and Sugar Twin.
Galligan said it’s “the most common” additive that they’re concerned about for cancer.
In 2023, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified aspartame as possibly carcinogenic, or cancer-causing, to humans — which Galligan stresses was “based pretty much entirely on the human evidence.”
“Unfortunately, the FDA has really dug its heels in on this and actually tried to stop IARC from even doing its evaluation,” he said. “The FDA really believes that aspartame is safe and doesn’t want to hear otherwise, essentially, and so it really falls on consumers to try to have to avoid that one for themselves.”
The FDA, for its part, said it “disagrees with IARC’s conclusion” and that their scientists don’t have safety concerns about its use.
“[They] had no interest in what IARC had to say, which is really unfortunate, because the IARC is the international authority on cancer. And so to have the FDA basically just preemptively say, ‘We don’t agree with you’ is deeply concerning,” Galligan added.
The American Cancer Society has not issued its own determination on whether it believes aspartame can cause cancer, but many health organizations are stressing caution.
Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)
Countless doctors and nutritionists have spoken out against BHA, an antioxidant preservative that is incredibly common in the US food supply — despite being banned in many other countries.
“These types of preservatives are banned in the European Union, and mostly it’s because of the cancer risk,” Dr. Neha Pathak, MD, who serves on WebMD‘s Medical Team, previously told The Post. “The cancer risk is something that is concerning and certainly reasonably anticipated based on the studies we have.
“There are lots of animal studies that show that high doses can cause tumor development in rats and hamsters. It is classified as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
Though the evidence is from animal studies, Galligan says it’s reason enough to move forward with a ban.
“Like Red No. 3, we would argue that the animal evidence is quite clear on this case, and because of the Delaney clause, the FDA should have banned BHA a long time ago.”
The Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which was enacted in 1960, prohibits the FDA from authorizing any food or color additive that has been found to cause cancer.
Potassium bromate and azodicarbonamide
These two additives are used in flour and found in bread. Potassium bromate increases the volume of bread and can give it a “fine crumb” structure, while azodicarbonamide strengthens dough and acts as a bleaching agent.
Neither are very widely used anymore — but they’re still allowed in the US, despite being banned elsewhere.
“[Potassium bromate] was banned by the World Health Organization many years ago because it was found to cause cancer,” Galligan said.
The CSPI has petitioned the FDA to ban it here as well, but the FDA maintains that it may be “safely used in the malting of barley” under certain conditions.
It was, however, banned in California in 2023, and Galligan says that “has probably driven US food manufacturers to stop using it, because … it’s easier for them to just have the same formula across the board.
Azodicarbonamide, meanwhile, breaks down into two chemicals — semicarbazide and urethane — that are linked to cancer.
What will the FDA do?
Galligan thinks it’s too soon to tell if a change in administration could mean bans of these foods, but he’s not hopeful.
“I’m not expecting that to come about of its own volition. I think if something happens, it would be through prompting by us, by other groups,” he said. “If the FDA were to take a renewed look, it would probably be because we asked them to.”
The CSPI’s ultimate wish is also not that the government bans each of these individual ingredients, but rather restructures its approval process.
“Red No. 3, and the way FDA has handled Red No. 3 — or to put it more correctly, not handled red three until yesterday — is a symptom of a bigger problem,” Gallian added.
“It’s an indication of a broken federal system that allows unsafe chemicals to linger in our food supply long after we know that they’re harmful. And so what I’d like to see, what CSPI is working towards, is full scale reform to fix that broken system.
“Because it isn’t just Red No. 3 that we’re concerned about. There are other chemicals, and going chemical by chemical — we’re talking about 10,000 chemicals that are currently allowed for use in food or food contact materials in the US, at least, according to current estimates.
“So it’s a ton of chemicals that we’re concerned about, and going one by one by one is a pretty inefficient way to go about it. And so fixing the entire system is what we are hoping for.”
The FDA has not yet responded to a request for comment.
