Editing Red (section)

=== Food coloring ===
The most common synthetic food coloring today is [[Allura Red AC]], a red [[azo dye]] that goes by several names including: '''Allura Red''', '''Food Red 17''', '''C.I. 16035''', '''FD&C Red 40''',<ref name="Shampoo">{{cite web |url=http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/col-221.html |title=From Shampoo to Cereal: Seeing to the Safety of Color Additives |access-date=2008-06-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115194446/http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/col-221.html |archive-date=January 15, 2008 }}</ref><ref name="Food Colour Facts">{{cite web |url=http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/colorfac.html|title=Food Color Facts|date=January 1993|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001050645/http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/colorfac.html|archive-date=October 1, 2007 |access-date=2006-08-18}}</ref> It was originally manufactured from coal tar, but now is mostly made from petroleum.<ref>{{cite web |title=E129 – Allura Red AC |url=https://proe.info/additives/e129 |website=proe.info |access-date=2022-10-31 |archive-date=2022-10-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031125505/https://proe.info/additives/e129 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In Europe, Allura Red AC is not recommended for consumption by children. It is banned in Denmark, Belgium, France and Switzerland, and was also banned in Sweden until the country joined the European Union in 1994.<ref name="Food Colour Facts"/> The [[European Union]] approves Allura Red AC as a food colorant, but EU countries' local laws banning food colorants are preserved.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=Jun 30, 1994|title=European Parliament and Council Directive 94/36/EC on colours for use in foodstuffs |journal=European Parliament and Council of the European Union|via=EUR-Lex |url=http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/1994/36/oj|access-date=November 23, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101102147/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1994/36/oj|archive-date=November 1, 2020}} Precise volume, tome, and page numbers for all languages are available on the cited website.</ref>

In the United States, Allura Red AC is approved by the [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) for use in [[cosmetics]], [[drug]]s, and food. It is used in some tattoo inks and is used in many products, such as [[soft drink]]s, children's medications, and [[cotton candy]]. On June 30, 2010, the [[Center for Science in the Public Interest]] (CSPI) called for the FDA to ban Red 40.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Group urges ban of 3 common dyes |url=http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/30/food-dyes-a-health-risk/ |last=Young|first=Saundra|date=Jun 30, 2010 |work=CNN|language=en|access-date=Jul 1, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703013023/http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/30/food-dyes-a-health-risk/ |archive-date=July 3, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Red 3]] dye was banned in the United States in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rogers |first=Kristen |date=2025-01-17 |title=Red dye No. 3 is now banned in the US. Here’s what studies show about more common dyes |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/17/health/red-40-food-dyes-wellness/index.html |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>

Because of public concerns about possible health risks associated with synthetic dyes, many companies have switched to using natural pigments such as [[carmine]], made from crushing the tiny female [[cochineal]] insect. This insect, originating in Mexico and Central America, was used to make the brilliant [[Scarlet (color)|scarlet]] dyes of the European Renaissance.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}