FDA to pull approval of three cancer-linked chemicals from food dyes and produce inks

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday it will strip federal authorization from three chemicals used to tint food and stamp produce. Methylene chloride is out of the inks used to mark fruits and vegetables. The agency is also revoking approval for methylene chloride, ethylene dichloride and trichloroethylene in the manufacture of turmeric oleoresin, annatto extract and paprika oleoresin — three colorings. The revocations take effect January 11, 2027.

The push came from a coalition that included Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, the Environmental Working Group, the Center for Environmental Health, the International Association of Color Manufacturers and the Environmental Defense Fund, according to Food Safety News. The groups petitioned the FDA by invoking the Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act. Under that clause, a color additive meant for ingestion must be treated as unsafe if evidence shows it causes cancer in people or animals.

The Environmental Defense Fund said in a press release on the FDA's announcement that exposure to the three chemicals has been linked to cancer, heart defects in babies, and damage to the liver, kidney and immune system.

Methylene chloride isn't a settled carcinogen across every agency. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry states, 'We do not know if methylene chloride can cause cancer in humans.' The same page notes that inhaling large amounts has been tied to cancer risks in mice, and that the World Health Organization, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency have all previously characterized the chemical as a possible carcinogen in people.

The decision lands in the middle of a broader fight over what goes into food. California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel once dismissed dye bans before writing the state's 'Skittles ban' bill, and in Maryland Consumer Reports delivered 100,000 signatures to the FDA over additives in snacks. Separately, a California lawsuit alleges millions of Driscoll's berry trays exceeded Canada's pesticide limit, while a U.S. Cyclospora outbreak has put the FDA's declining foreign inspections under scrutiny.