Claim: "Some candy contains red dye that causes cancer"

Question

The FDA states they have approved color additive for red dye #3 on multiple occasions, and that there are two regulations for food as well as ingested drugs, and commits themselves to continuing their regulation of foods that include red dye #3 as warranted. There is a list provided on the FDA's website of Halloween candy that contains this dye. There is limited information on the FDA's website about whether Red dye #3 has been proven to increase one's risk of or cause cancer.

Comments

After reading the CBS News article and your factcheck response I think it was great how you provided the exact changes the FDA made when improving there color additive for red dye #3. A few things I think you could have added when fact checking was a little more research on the risk of cancer from the dye since that was the headline of your factcheck. Although you stated that there was minimal information on the cancer causing risks, I was able to spot a few when I read the article through. CBS is also a know news channel and comparing there source to others would have been a reliable way for you to check whether this statement was true or not.

Answer 1

The claim is still being investigates with the FDA so it it neither true or false. However there is research that indicates that there are possible dangers to the red food dye. In the past red 2 has been banned due to its investigation by the FDA( that took 15 years) which highlighted the dye as links to chemical carcinogenesis. This was established in 1976. More recent research suggest the food dye Red 3 may also bring health issue though there is a gap between the link since the research has been done on animals and its hard to extrapolate results to humans. Additionally there are many movement in the public health sector that are pushing this investigation of the FDA in relation to this food dye. As it seems that under the Delaney Clause that Red 3 there is a restriction on the dye as of now. However it is still not banned rather gives corporations limitation of how its applied. Some notes to consider about this source of this claim is that the the author is Picci has worked for many financial and marketing journals. However its seem that she has been with CBS with moneywatch, which highlight food recalls, for about 3 years. CBS as a source on health and recalls tends to be actual. This issue itself has been ongoing as food dyes have continuously been linked to health issue and are still being researched and understood. NPR itself touched on this topic last around Halloween time. Due to the topic of health and regulation this article seems generally unbiased highlighting what is available to the public such their source of the FDA reports. As well as interviewing the owner of the company that uses the dye which gives perspective on both sides. The headline does have the points of the article however would say that is fear inducing with the diction used.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6132603/

https://www.gao.gov/products/100521#:~:text=extensions%20were%20granted.-,Red%20No.,studies%20indicating%20possible%20adverse%20effects. 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10502305/

https://www.fda.gov/industry/color-additives/fdc-red-no-3

https://www.cspinet.org/cspi-news/red-3-why-hasnt-fda-banned-carcinogenic-food-dye

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aimeepicchi/details/experience/

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/cbs-news/

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/10/17/1206283813/red-dye-food-products-fda-ban

Comments

This is a thorough fact-check - but how would you rate the claim? True? False? Other? Always state that within the fact-clearly and select a rating. Thanks!