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For anyone wondering why it takes so long to actually switch this stuff out, and the available alternatives to Red 3, I thought this piece from a food dyes comp

For anyone wondering why it takes so long to actually switch this stuff out, and the available alternatives to Red 3, I thought this piece from a food dyes company (no relation) was fascinating: https://na.sensientfoodcolors.com/confection/replacing-red-3-in-confections/ https://na.sensientfoodcolors.com/confection/replacing-red-3... You have to figure that if these guys had a drop-in replacement, they'd be offering it for sale at a high price, so this probably is the best you can do. The process changes and requalification looks like no fun at all. But it also looks pretty doable for a company in this line of business, so maybe you won't see too many color changes on the shelf with this ban.

jpk2f2 2y ago
Thanks, that article was fascinating. I wasn't aware of how complex swapping it out could be, its continued use makes a lot more sense now. I'm very curious on what's going to happen with cocktail cherries - I believe they use Red #3 (it's one of the only permitted uses in the UK).
VanillaCafe 2y ago
> For anyone wondering why it takes so long to actually switch this stuff out One counterpoint is do we really NEED to have brightly colored foods? It's a hard problem if you need a food to be bright red. But, that has to boil down to strictly to improving sales, right? Hypothetically, if all the artificial food dyes were banned, then all food companies would be on the same level playing field.
- dylan604 2y ago
  Color is definitely something that catches a person's eye, so if you have a "food product" that needs extra to convince someone to buy it, color is a way to do it. You can't taste it before purchasing. You can see and smell it, so they push those levers as much as they can.
  - makapuf 2y ago
    Mandate big font "contains carcinogens" label when your food contains this colour. Then let the buyer choose whether s/he finds this shade of bright red attractive or not.
    - paulryanrogers 2y ago
      Multiplied by the hundreds of decisions people make every day and now you know why we have the FDA. People cannot become experts for every decision they must make.
    - dylan604 2y ago
      You mean like the big ugly boxes on cigarettes?
      - makapuf 2y ago
        Maybe, and I see your point, but there are few alternatives to having them on a cig pack, whereas you could not dye your food and remove this label. As a consumer, the choice is rather simple (for me at least)
        dylan604 2y ago
        Simple has nothing to do with it. The point is that people ignore warnings all of the time for various reasons. Some people look at the risk/reward factor and decide the risk isn’t that bad. Some people have no idea what the risk means and ignore it. People go sky diving even after having to sign all of the liability release forms, make a video recording while reading a release statement, etc. in Hawaii, there are signs that suggest people to not travel any further due to safety reasons and by proceeding further you do accept all liability. Nobody stops there, and the vast majority don’t even stop long enough to read the sign. The point being that humans are bad at weighing risk/reward and make bad decisions all of the time.
        makapuf 2y ago
- thatguy0900 2y ago
  Visuals have a pretty big impact on food. I wonder how many foods would just look disgusting without any food dyes. Reminds me of butter companies trying to pass legislation to make margerine companies unable to dye their product to look like butter
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
KennyBlanken 2y ago
There are a bunch of no-artificial-dye candies and whatnot on the market already, and they actually look better to me - they're not absurd unnatural colors.

jpk2f2 2y ago

Thanks, that article was fascinating. I wasn't aware of how complex swapping it out could be, its continued use makes a lot more sense now. I'm very curious on what's going to happen with cocktail cherries - I believe they use Red #3 (it's one of the only permitted uses in the UK).

VanillaCafe 2y ago

> For anyone wondering why it takes so long to actually switch this stuff out One counterpoint is do we really NEED to have brightly colored foods? It's a hard problem if you need a food to be bright red. But, that has to boil down to strictly to improving sales, right? Hypothetically, if all the artificial food dyes were banned, then all food companies would be on the same level playing field.

dylan604 2y ago
Color is definitely something that catches a person's eye, so if you have a "food product" that needs extra to convince someone to buy it, color is a way to do it. You can't taste it before purchasing. You can see and smell it, so they push those levers as much as they can.
- makapuf 2y ago
  Mandate big font "contains carcinogens" label when your food contains this colour. Then let the buyer choose whether s/he finds this shade of bright red attractive or not.
  - paulryanrogers 2y ago
    Multiplied by the hundreds of decisions people make every day and now you know why we have the FDA. People cannot become experts for every decision they must make.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    You mean like the big ugly boxes on cigarettes?
    - makapuf 2y ago
      Maybe, and I see your point, but there are few alternatives to having them on a cig pack, whereas you could not dye your food and remove this label. As a consumer, the choice is rather simple (for me at least)
      - dylan604 2y ago
        Simple has nothing to do with it. The point is that people ignore warnings all of the time for various reasons. Some people look at the risk/reward factor and decide the risk isn’t that bad. Some people have no idea what the risk means and ignore it. People go sky diving even after having to sign all of the liability release forms, make a video recording while reading a release statement, etc. in Hawaii, there are signs that suggest people to not travel any further due to safety reasons and by proceeding further you do accept all liability. Nobody stops there, and the vast majority don’t even stop long enough to read the sign. The point being that humans are bad at weighing risk/reward and make bad decisions all of the time.
        makapuf 2y ago
thatguy0900 2y ago
Visuals have a pretty big impact on food. I wonder how many foods would just look disgusting without any food dyes. Reminds me of butter companies trying to pass legislation to make margerine companies unable to dye their product to look like butter
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

KennyBlanken 2y ago

There are a bunch of no-artificial-dye candies and whatnot on the market already, and they actually look better to me - they're not absurd unnatural colors.