Canada is being played - How Canada is Becoming America’s Food Dye Dumping Ground
I never thought I'd see the day, with the United States actively restricting or banning food dye state by state, Canada's being left in the dust regulation-wise. At one time, we were ahead of the curve by urging corporations to minimize their use of food dye voluntarily (this is how Kraft Dinner became dye-free).
Something is happening though.
US brands are partnering with Canadian retailers to launch products loaded with dye. I saw the first example of this 3 weeks ago, when Dare and Barbie came out with a line of PINK cookies, filled with red 3 (erythrosine).
January 2025, United States:
Safeway collaboration with Skittles (Mars Corp)
What in the titanium dioxide is happening?
This isn't a coincidence, this is a calculated pivot.
As U.S. states like California ban Red 40 and Yellow 5 in school foods (2025), corporations are quietly shifting their dye-saturated products to Canada where our lax regulations and lack of warning labels make us the perfect dumping ground.
Think I’m exaggerating?
Tactic 1: Banking on Canadians not understanding the synthetic dye name/number system.
Red 3 is in the headlines in America. Erythrosine is the name Canada uses for the same ingredient. The Dare/Barbie cookies listed erythrosine. I am aware it's called erythrosine because my family has been dye-free since 2022 and it jumped out at me. I don't know a single other family that would have made the connection between erythrosine and red 3.
Tactic 2: Banking on the fact that many think dye is actually already banned in Canada.
25% of the people that comment on my content, mistakenly believe Canada does not allow synthetic food dye. It's a common mistake.
Tactic 3: Listing "beet juice" to mislead people.
When Dare listed beet juice (natural) alongside erythrosine (a synthetic dye linked to thyroid tumors in animal studies) it worked. 10 people accused me of lying, many pulled out their boxes of the cookies and took photos of the ingredients to show me it had beet and was therefore safe. They were wrong, it had both. That was intentional.
Froot Loops took out food dye in Canada in 2024 and it made headlines throughout the United States. Why then, did I see a new variant last week, with marshmallows of a "limited edition" variety with all the synthetic dyes? To confuse the consumer.
Tactic 5: Exploiting our trust.
They're partnering with beloved brands and retailers to mask risk with familiarity.
We’re not just being left in the dust—we’re being played.
If the Canadian government wants to leave the decision to consume food dye on the consumer- Canada has a responsibility to educate the consumer and battle misinformation.
All consumers must know:
1. It is a petroleum-derived chemical additive that has links to neurological symptoms in some children, and has caused cancer, anxiety and depression in animal studies at high doses. (Comprehensive report on studies)
2. All known names of the dye must be used on the packaging or bold warning labels must be used. The European union made it mandatory for warning labels after the 2011 Southampton Study. **MAY HAVE AN ADVERSE EFFECT ON ACTIVITY AND ATTENTION IN CHILDREN**
3. Canadians need to know food dye is absolutely allowed in Canadian food and is also present in most medicine and dental products. It's in ADHD medication, advil, toothpaste, infants antibiotics. It's everywhere.
As it stands, Canadians aren't left with a choice, we're left with confusing corporate exploitation.
Please share, tag the businesses, use hashtag #canadiandyedump
and email health.canada@canada.ca citing Section 4(1) of the Food and Drugs Act: "Adulterated food jeopardizes health."
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