Why U.S. lawmakers want to cancel a chemical found in Skittles and strawberry Yoohoo

Skittles, strawberry Yoohoo and Walmart yogurt-dipped pretzels — what do these all have in common? They contain the controversial red dye No. 3 or titanium dioxide, which some California lawmakers are now waging war against.

A new bill could ban five chemicals prevalent in thousands of U.S. food items, including certain brands of fruit cups, sliced bread, fruit juice, cake mixes, trail mix and beyond.

Assembly Bill 418, introduced by Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino, and Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, seeks to prohibit red dye No. 3 for good along with brominated vegetable oil, titanium dioxide, propylparaben and potassium bromate.

Red dye No. 3, a synthetic dye derived from petroleum, and titanium dioxide, which is a pigment often found in paint primer, are used for coloring food and the most prevalent of the five proposed banned additives. The proposal cites a range of studies linking these additives to increased cancer risk, adverse behavioral development in children and decline in reproductive health, among other ailments; some studies tested their effects on humans, others on lab animals.

The legislators say they hope the bill, if passed, will inspire change nationally. And it could force food manufacturers to reformulate the ingredients in their products.

Red dye No. 3 has been banned from cosmetics and select uses in the U.S. since 1990, but it’s still commonly found in food. All five of these additives have been banned from food use in the European Union.

“Unfortunately, the U.S. is really behind the rest of the world in protecting consumers from unsafe and toxic food chemicals,” said Gabriel. “In a lot of ways, the chemical companies get to grade their own homework.”

Chef and TV host Andrew Zimmern brought some celebrity wattage to a virtual news conference with lawmakers last week, where the bill was announced. “Everyone in America should be confident the food we bring into our homes and serve our families is safe,” Zimmern said, “and I say that as a parent of a child myself. But as we know, that’s not always the case.”

A representative for the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates color additives in the U.S., said that the FDA “routinely reviews new scientific information on the authorized uses of ingredients”; if those are deemed unsafe, the FDA can rescind its own approvals, alert the public and aid in recall efforts. Industry groups have maintained that red dye No. 3 is safe at the levels that people normally consume it.

Gabriel stressed that the bill does not seek to ban products outright. Instead, Gabriel, Wicks and representatives for the bill’s co-sponsors — including nonprofits Consumer Reports and the Environmental Working Group — said they hope that it will spur companies to alter their ingredients if the bill becomes law. Many manufacturers have already done so for products sold in the E.U., such as Skittles.

Consumers today can order Skittles and other such items that don’t contain red dye No. 3 from Europe. This is evidence that these five additives are unnecessary, said Scott Faber, EWG senior vice president of government affairs.

“As someone who worked for the food industry, the only reason that companies are fighting to preserve these chemicals is because it’s inconvenient to change their recipes,” Faber said. Faber previously served as head of government affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Assn., now known as the Consumer Brands Assn.

The bill provides a period of time for companies to change their recipes for sale in the state; if signed into law, the new regulation would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2025.

According to the EWG, red dye No. 3 appears in nearly 3,000 food products; the nonprofit’s running tally of products containing the additive includes Pop Tarts frosted confetti cake bites, Sara Lee brownies with sprinkles and SuperValu gummy bears, among hundreds and hundreds of other items. Titanium dioxide helps to whiten foods such as Kroger fat-free half-and-half, Campbell’s Healthy Request chicken corn chowder and Little Debbie honey buns.

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