While it caused cancer in these male rats, the dye does not cause cancer in humans and other animals in the same way, according to other studies. Therefore, “claims that the use of FD&C Red No. 3 in food and in ingested drugs puts people at risk are not supported by the available scientific information,” according to the FDA.

Some familiar foods will begin to disappear from New York grocery store shelves in the next couple of years after action Wednesday by federal regulators to ban a dye called Red 3 nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risks.

The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday it was banning Red 3 dye from food and beverages in the U.S. over its link to cancer in laboratory animals.