Erythrosine (Red 3) is the color the food industry lists as E127. In our table it is high risk: it takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100).
- The key finding, from the FDA: FDA revoked the colour additive listing for FD&C Red No. 3 in food and ingested drugs on 2025-01-15 under the Delaney Clause; food reformulation deadline 2027-01-15 (drugs 2028-01-18) (Federal Register 2025-00830 (2025-01-16); fda.gov/industry/color-additives/fdc-red-no-3)
- Flagged for young children. Set only where EFSA’s own exposure assessment shows toddlers or children exceeding or approaching the ADI, or where a regulator used explicitly child-specific language. It is already in our top class, so the flag cannot move it higher.
- Where you meet it. It turns up in 1 of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 4 citations from the FDA, US state law, EFSA and OEHHA, each one below.
What Red 3 does to a score
A packaged food's additive subscore starts at 100 and loses points for each additive on the label; that subscore is a third of the final score. Red 3 takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100). Scan the pack in Sito and the score you get is the one for your own child's age, with this additive named in the reasons. How we score has the whole method.
See what is in your own cupboard
Scan a packaged food and Sito names the additives in it, then scores the product out of 100 for your child's age.
What the sources found
Every classification in our table comes from the citations below, and nothing else. Each finding is our one-line summary of what the source concluded, with the source and reference beside it.
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FDA
Federal Register 2025-00830 (2025-01-16); fda.gov/industry/color-additives/fdc-red-no-3
FDA revoked the colour additive listing for FD&C Red No. 3 in food and ingested drugs on 2025-01-15 under the Delaney Clause; food reformulation deadline 2027-01-15 (drugs 2028-01-18). -
US state law
US-CA: AB 418, California Food Safety Act (2023), codified at Health and Safety Code §109025; leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=109025.&lawCode=HSC
California Health and Safety Code §109025, added by AB 418 (Stats. 2023, ch. 328): from 2027-01-01 no person or entity may 'manufacture, sell, deliver, distribute, hold, or offer for sale, in commerce a food product for human consumption' containing red dye 3 (CAS 16423-68-0) — listed alongside brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate and propylparaben. -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2011.1854
ADI retained at 0.1 mg/kg bw/day - among the lowest for any food colour; thyroid tumorigenic effects in rats judged secondary to effects on thyroid function rather than genotoxic. -
OEHHA
(2021) synthetic food dyes / children neurobehavioral assessment
Red 3 is one of the seven dyes assessed. OEHHA's overall conclusion is that synthetic food dyes can impact neurobehavior in some children; its review of human studies suggests that synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral effects, such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and restlessness in sensitive children, and that some children are likely to be more adversely affected than others.
Why this class
IARC Group 1 or 2A with a dietary exposure route; or EFSA has withdrawn or negated a safety conclusion; or EFSA’s own exposure assessment finds a child age group exceeding the ADI at mean intake; or the substance is banned or formally being phased out for food use by the EU, by the US FDA, or under a US state law.
Our confidence in this row's classification is high. Medium or low does not mean the evidence is weak; it means something about the row is still being pinned down, usually a regulatory status confirmed from one source rather than two.
Questions parents ask
Is Red 3 (E127) safe for kids?
High risk. In Sito it takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100). It is flagged for young children, and it is already in our top class, so the flag cannot move it higher. The finding we rely on: FDA revoked the colour additive listing for FD&C Red No. 3 in food and ingested drugs on 2025-01-15 under the Delaney Clause; food reformulation deadline 2027-01-15 (drugs 2028-01-18) (FDA, Federal Register 2025-00830 (2025-01-16); fda.gov/industry/color-additives/fdc-red-no-3).
What is E127?
E127 is the E number for Erythrosine, a color. It is also called Red 3. Open Food Facts tags it en:e127.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E127 in our table, then the closest colors by number.
- Azorubine / carmoisine (E122), moderate risk, flagged for young children
- Amaranth (E123), high risk
- Ponceau 4R (E124), moderate risk, flagged for young children
- Red 2G (E128), high risk
- Red 40 (E129), moderate risk, flagged for young children
- Patent Blue V (E131), low risk
Read next
- The full table: E127 and 252 other additives, 597 citations
- How a high risk additive costs a food 30 of its 100 additive points
- What an E number like E127 means, and who approves it
- Our study of 3,000 products: the flagged additive parents meet most is not a dye
- Red 40, also flagged for young children: what the rules say