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A new report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest argues that synthetic dyes should be banned because they pose "A Rainbow of Risks" without any real benefits.

Every year, manufactures pour about 15 million pounds of eight common synthetic dyes into American's food. Yet, tests have shown that a number of these compounds have health risks ranging from powerful allergic reactions and hyperactivity in children to cancer.

Evidence suggests, but does not prove, that Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, and Yellow 6 cause cancer in animals. The three most widely used dyes - Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 - are contaminated with known carcinogens.

The granddaddy of them all, Red 3, is recognized by the Food and Drug Administration as a carcinogen. The law requires it to be illegal, but pressure from Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block, scuttled the required ban. About 200,000 pounds annually of Red 3 go into foods including Betty Crocker's Fruit Roll-Ups and ConAgra's Kid Cuisine frozen meals.

CSPI suggests that synthetic dyes be banned outright because, well, why not? But barring that, they are demanding that the cancer-causing dyes be banned, as required by law, and that all dyed foods be considered "adulterated" under the law because the dyes make a food "appear better or of greater value than it is," the legal standard.

The EU will begin requiring next week that dyed foods carry a warning. But banning fake foods in the U.S. seems a long way off.