Delaware 153rd General Assembly Status: Introduced 1 R cosponsors

SB 41 — Red Dye 3/Ban/Food/Sale/Manufacture

Last action — Lieu/Substituted

  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced January 28, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Not enough signal yet

Not enough signal yet to read this bill's trajectory — we surface a likelihood only once there's real movement (stage, sponsorship, committee, or votes) to point to.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

This Act bans the manufacture, sale, delivery, distribution, holding with the intent to sell, and offering for sale in Delaware of food that contains Red dye 3 (CAS no. 16423-68-0). For purposes of this chapter and section, food includes drink, ice, confectionary, and condiments. Red dye 3 is a color additive made from petroleum that gives foods a bright cherry-red color. Any person that violates this Act is subject to a civil penalty as follows: (1) For a first occurrence, not to exceed $5,000, in addition to costs. (2) For a subsequent occurrence, not to exceed $10,000, in addition to costs. Each day on which a violation of this Act occurs constitutes a separate occurrence. In 2023, California became the first state to ban Red dye 3. Since then, 10 other states have introduced legislation to ban this dye, including our neighboring states of Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received a petition in November 2022 calling on them to ban Red dye 3. The petition is actively pending consideration. The FDA has not yet issued a decision. Red dye 3, also labeled Red 3 or FD&C Red No. 3, is a synthetic additive used to color food and drink that has been linked to behavioral concerns in children and cancer. Red dye 3 is in thousands of foods, including those marketed to children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Branded Foods Database at FoodData Central identified 9,201 U.S. food products that contain Red dye 3, including hundreds of products made by the country’s biggest food companies. However, Red dye 3 does not need to be in our food supply. Companies could replace Red dye 3 with natural colors from foods like beets, red cabbage, or black currants, or could simply leave it out entirely. Red dye 3 is added to food only to make it look more appealing. This Act takes effect on October 1, 2027, which is 9 months after California’s ban will go into effect.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read SB 41 on the official Delaware source →

Action History

  1. Lieu/Substituted

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 61 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (61)

61 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety healthcare agriculture
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 41 do?
This Act bans the manufacture, sale, delivery, distribution, holding with the intent to sell, and offering for sale in Delaware of food that contains Red dye 3 (CAS no. 16423-68-0). For purposes of this chapter and section, food includes drink, ice, confectionary, and condiments. Red dye 3 is a color additive made from petroleum that gives foods a bright cherry-red color. Any person that violates this Act is subject to a civil penalty as follows: (1) For a first occurrence, not to exceed $5,000, in addition to costs. (2) For a subsequent occurrence, not to exceed $10,000, in addition to costs. Each day on which a violation of this Act occurs constitutes a separate occurrence. In 2023, California became the first state to ban Red dye 3. Since then, 10 other states have introduced legislation to ban this dye, including our neighboring states of Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received a petition in November 2022 calling on them to ban Red dye 3. The petition is actively pending consideration. The FDA has not yet issued a decision. Red dye 3, also labeled Red 3 or FD&C Red No. 3, is a synthetic additive used to color food and drink that has been linked to behavioral concerns in children and cancer. Red dye 3 is in thousands of foods, including those marketed to children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Branded Foods Database at FoodData Central identified 9,201 U.S. food products that contain Red dye 3, including hundreds of products made by the country’s biggest food companies. However, Red dye 3 does not need to be in our food supply. Companies could replace Red dye 3 with natural colors from foods like beets, red cabbage, or black currants, or could simply leave it out entirely. Red dye 3 is added to food only to make it look more appealing. This Act takes effect on October 1, 2027, which is 9 months after California’s ban will go into effect.
Who sponsors SB 41?
SB 41 is sponsored by Eric Buckson (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 41?
This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced January 28, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track SB 41?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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