The U.S. on Wednesday banned the use of a synthetic food dye that gives some candies, cakes and certain oral medications a cherry-red color, following evidence that the dye causes cancer in laboratory rats.

The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday it had decided to revoke Red 3's authorization to be added to foods, over concerns about how the food coloring is linked to cancer in laboratory animals.

"The FDA cannot authorize a food additive or color additive if it has been found to cause cancer in humans or animals. Evidence shows cancer in laboratory male rats exposed to high levels of FD&C Red No.

On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an order that will ban Red No. 3, a synthetic dye, from food, drinks, and ingested drugs, in the U.S. The additive was first approved for use in 1907,

The FDA banned the use of red dye No. 3 in foods and medicines sold in the U.S. because it has been shown to cause cancer in rats. The action highlights the limits of a federal law known as the Delaney clause.

The US Food and Drug Administration has banned the use of red dye No. 3 in food, beverages and ingested drugs, more than 30 years after scientists discovered links to cancer in animals, the agency announced Wednesday.