DES MOINES, Iowa — Over 9,000 food items are now being reworked after the Food and Drug Administration banned a popular red dye. 

Fairytale Cotton Candy is owned by the same people who own Chocolate Storybook in West Des Moines. They’re within the top 10 cotton candy producers in the country, and the beginning of the calendar year is their busiest time of year as they’re manufacturing products for Valentine’s Day and the Spring. 

Around 40,000 tubes of cotton candy are produced every week in their Des Moines facility, but now changes will have to be made to some of their products after a new FDA ban on Red Dye 3. 

“Red 3 is a synthetic dye that’s been used in food production for a very long time. And it’s a manufactured dye, so it’s not a natural dye,” said Meg Shearer, the president of Fairytale Cotton Candy. 

This dye is used in thousands of products like frosting, candy, frozen desserts, and even some ingested drugs. It produces a vibrant red color in these products.

The FDA evoked the Delaney Clause to issue the ban. The Delaney Clause was established in 1960 and prohibits the FDA from authorizing the use of any ingredients found to induce cancer in humans or animals.

Stacy Mitchell, a local dietician and physical trainer, said the FDA conducted a study in the 1980s into Red Dye 3. The study found that male rats developed thyroid cancer after consuming Red Dye 3. However, Mitchell notes that the rats’ diets contained 4% of this dye.

“[That] is a massive amount. It would be like us consuming 6.5 to 7 pounds of dye each day, every day. So, that’s a lot,” Mitchell said.

A 2022 color additive petition encouraged the FDA to reassess Red 3, which led to the ban issued on January 15th of this year.

“I do not find [Red 3] to be a threat,” said Mitchell, “But it’s nice to have something that we don’t really need in our diet to be kind of gone away with.”

Around 15% of Fair Tale Cotton Candy’s 60 flavors contain Red 3, including one of their most popular flavors, Unicorn. 

Mitchell says some manufacturers may look to replace Red Dye 3 with Red Dye 40. However, some studies have linked Red 40 to behavioral issues in children. 

Shearer says her goal is to replace Red 3 with natural flavors. About a third of their cotton candy is already made with all-natural ingredients. For example, they use beet, radish, and red cabbage powders in place of red dye, and turmeric in place of yellow dye. 

“When we first started inventing the flavors, I had the idea that most of them should be all-natural,” said Shearer.

As a result, they already have ideas for how they want to change their products to comply with the new ban. She also believes that Red 40 may be the next dye the FDA bans.

However, Shearer says there is a difference between cotton candy with natural ingredients and cotton candy with dyes. 

“What it might mean is our cotton candy is not as vibrant as people are used to, and we would hope that they could get on board with the fact that it’s a better-for-you product. So, let’s go with the paler color,” said Shearer.

The ban goes into effect in January 2027. Despite having time to make the change, Shearer says she is looking to make changes sooner because consumers may want to avoid the dye as a result of the ban.

This comes as a bill is making its way through the Iowa Statehouse which proposes banning school districts from serving food with certain food additives including Red Dye 40, Yellow Dye 7, and margarine. The bill, House Study Bill 5, passed through the subcommittee on Wednesday.