The popular food dye that gives cherry-flavored drinks and foods the vibrant red color will be banned.

The Food and Drug Administration announced the ban of Red No. 3 after it had been linked to cancer in animals, NBC News reported.

It is used in candy, cereal, even the cherries that are found in fruit cocktail, the Center for Science in the Public Interest said. The food safety group asked the FDA back in 2022 to ban Red No. 3.

“The FDA cannot authorize a food additive or color additive if it has been found to cause cancer in human or animals,” the FDA’s Jim Jones said in a statement, according to NBC News. “Evidence shows cancer in laboratory male rats exposed to high levels of FD&C Red No. 3.”

The FDA noted that the cancer found in rats during the testing is not found in humans, due to “a rat specific hormonal mechanism “and that humans are exposed to much lower levels of the dye than the rats. Other animals tested in the same manner also did not have the same results as the rats.

The International Association of Color Manufacturers said Red No. 3, which is a synthetic dye made from petroleum, is safe at the levels that humans consume it, Consumer Reports said.

Don’t expect the bright reds to go away immediately. Companies have until Jan. 15, 2027, to produce new formulas. The deadline for companies that make ingested drugs will be Jan. 18, 2028.

Red No. 3, according to the FDA, is not used as frequently as other colors that are still approved by the agency.

This is not the first time Red No. 3 has been banned. California banned it in 2023, effective in 2027, after it was already prohibited by the FDA in cosmetics for 30 years, CBS News and Bloomberg reported.

Red No. 3 is also known as erythrosine, and is banned in Europe for everything but cocktail and candied cherries, according to Bloomberg.

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