In a bombshell announcement made last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it will ban the use of FD&C Red No. 3, a synthetic food dye, from the nation’s food supply. The latest initiative comes more than three decades after the colorant was barred from cosmetics and non-oral medications due to potentially causing cancer.

The dye is a "color additive made from petroleum," which "could previously be used in foods in small amounts as approved by the FDA on a per-case basis," said Forbes. Scientists have been pushing for a ban in food for decades, and California became the first state to ban it, with 10 other states introducing legislation to do so.