The red dye n°40 used in California: How much harm does it do?

They are close to banning the red dye n°40 used in California, and in this way, a huge amount of products must leave the market, it is used in candies and cereals.

The California Legislature passed a bill banning the use of red dye No. 40 and five other chemicals in foods served in public schools.

On Thursday, California became the first state to pass a bill that, if signed into law, would ban the use of the ingredients found in some cereals, ice cream, beverages, candy, popsicles, cheese-flavored French fries, gelatins and more popular products, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit environmental health organization that co-sponsored the bill along with Consumer Reports.

Known as the California School Food Safety Act, introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel in February, Assembly Bill 2,316 prohibits a school district, county superintendent of schools or charter school with grades kindergarten through 12 from offering foods or beverages containing red dye No. 40, yellow dyes Nos. 5 and 6, blue dyes Nos. 1 and 2 and green dye No. 3.

The red dye No. 40 used in California is considered to have a high health effect on students.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has until September 30 to sign the bill, which, if passed, would be enacted on December 31, 2027.

California is home to the nation’s largest public school system, with more than 6.3 million students and 10,000 schools, said Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction and a co-sponsor of the bill.

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The red dye n°40 used in California

The bill stems from concerns that these dyes may harm children’s ability to learn.

In that regard, red dye n°40 used in California has been linked to behavioral difficulties and decreased attention among children, according to a 2021 study by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

The law is “important to me as a parent, it’s important to me as someone who struggled with ADHD (chronic disorder characterized by difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity) as a child, and it’s important to me as a parent of a child struggling with ADHD,” Gabriel said at the briefing. “We know that the synthetic food dyes that are affected by this bill can cause harm to all children, but we know that there is an especially pronounced impact on many of our young people with ADHD and other issues.”

A very unique case in California, was that after the state banned brominated vegetable oil, used primarily in some soft drinks, as part of its California Food Safety Act in October 2023, the FDA repealed the regulation for its use nine months later.

“And it really was the difference between a student with a B grade and one with a C grade for him,” she said. “That also affected his confidence.”