California becomes the first state to ban four chemicals in food, including red dye No. 3
California becomes the first state to ban four chemicals in food, including red dye No. 3
The food and drink additives, which have been linked to health issues, could be removed from products nationwide as a result of the new law.
The food and drink additives, which have been linked to health issues, could be removed from products nationwide as a result of the new law.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that bans four food additives linked to health problems, the first time a state has outlawed chemicals allowed by the Food and Drug Administration.
Starting in 2027, California will prohibit red dye No. 3, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil and propylparaben after Newsom, a Democrat, signed Assembly Bill 418 into law Saturday. All four ingredients have been made illegal in the European Union and some other parts of the world, but they can be found in commonly sold items in the U.S., such as some brands of orange soda, icing, hamburger rolls, candies and processed foods.
The chemicals have been associated with issues from hyperactivity in children to cancer.
What's sad to me is seeing that they are banned in other countries and these companies have already adjusted their recipes for those countries. They chose to keep the more dangerous chemicals in the US because they weren't forced to change. The US seems to not care about it's citizens
The US absolutely doesn't care about its citizens.
capitalism is so cool. you'd think it'd be easier to just have one recipe for everywhere but noo
Oh, easier, sure. But the spreadsheet says!!
The FDA banned Red Dye 3 ~30 years ago... for cosmetics. Can't put it in makeup, but food? ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Gotta wonder how much money it took to make the FDA look the other way.
That's fine. Red Peeps are an abomination unto the lord. The one true Peep is the yellow Peep.
Amen!
Had to Google these:
Potassium bromate is in flour and baked goods.
Brominated vegetable oil is in certain sodas.
Propylparaben is in certain packaged snacks like trail mix and muffins
Potassium Bromate is used in many industrial baking products, it strengthens gluten. This is important commercially because it gives a stronger bread product in a shorter time. The regular flour you buy for home use does not contain it, though some 'bread mixes' have, at least previously.
It's great that it is being banned, it should have been a long time ago.
Brominated Vegetable Oil is one of the top ingredients in Mountain Dew, and I wouldn't doubt that Red Dye No. 3 is in the LiveWire version.
They stopped using it in 2020 in all PepsiCo products. So at least that's a move in the right direction.
About time. My wife was floored by all the weird-colored shit in the US. It's also why some of my childhood guilty pleasure snacks are banned for sale as-is here
I was hoping potassium bromate was on there. Even China has banned it.
You know a food additive is bad when the country that's known for gutter oil and fake eggs also finds this ingredient unsafe
Don't forget the plastic rice.
It’s is on there. Just won’t be implemented this year.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/09/health/california-governor-bans-red-dye-no-3-wellness/index.html
Imagine if the FDA did its job instead of forcing individual states to do it for them. California doesn’t always get things right, but god damn is this a massive W.
Worth noting the EU probably didn't "make" them illegal.
The US requires a substance to be proven dangerous to be banned from use in food substances, the EU requires it to be proven safe to be allowed for use in food substances.
About damn time.
In Europe round-up is still allowed for professional use even though it's linked to cancer and parkinsons disease.
Newsom gonna have carpal tunnel in his wrist after all this signing he's been doing lately.
Funny enough I used to be allergic to red dye as a kid as it made my skin break out
That reminds me - are there viable alternatives to each of these?
I don't know about the rest, but red dye there is, and one of those includes just not using it. Dye is a marketing tool that isn't necessary for the product.
Red Dye #3 is not commonly used in the United States anymore. Instead, Red Dye #40 is used and works just fine as a safe replacement.
Brominated Vegetable Oil is used to emulsify flavor oils into water and is commonly used in citrus soft drinks. Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate and Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin are both be used for the same purpose.
Potassium Bromide is added to flour to strengthen dough, allowing for a greater rise during baking. It appears that Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C) can replace much of its use.
Propylparaben is an antifungal preservative that is used in packaged baked goods to prevent mold. There are other preservatives that can be used, but it sounds like parabens are the most effective for preserving non-acidic foods. I assume that propylparaben will be replaced by some other paraben.
Wow, of all the red dyes in the world they had to pick my favorite one. This wouldn't have happened if Trump was president.
Only four? And why is arsene not one of them? Uranium, too...
CA being a tyrant the best way it knows how. Through ineffectual socialist policies.
Socialism is when banning harmful food additives.
I didn't know we redefined socialism to be at where California is located in this beautiful diagram. What's all that stuff further left? Socialism 2.0 and beyond?