FDA proposes ban on Orange B, a food dye not used for decades

By JONEL ALECCIA, AP Health Writer

Federal regulators are proposing to remove another artificial dye from the U.S. food supply — Orange B, a synthetic color that hasn’t been used in the U.S. for decades.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it would seek to repeal the regulation allowing use of the dye approved in 1966 to color sausage casings and frankfurters. No batches of the dye have been certified, or asked to be used, since 1978, FDA officials said.

“Its use has been abandoned by industry,” the agency said in a statement. “The color additive regulation is outdated and unnecessary.”

But consumer advocates who have called for tougher FDA regulation of food dyes and other additives for decades have suggested it was an empty gesture.

“It says they are curren