WORCESTER, Mass. - A federal ban of red dye no. 3 could bring changes to your favorite candy, cereals and even medicine with bright red colors. Local food and drink makers spoke with Spectrum News 1 about the move.

“Red dye no. 3 is something that has been coming up a lot if you're in the food industry,” Briana Azier said.

The Food and Drug Administration banning the use of red no. 3 means thousands of food products will have to find other means of developing a bright red color by 2027.

The owner of Bri’s Sweet Treats in Worcester is already among the many makers who’ve phased the synthetic dye out of their products.

“I'm in a lot of groups for treat makers and candy makers and chocolate makers," Azier said. "So, it was just a lot of people were already talking about it. What brands have already transitioned? What sprinkle makers, food coloring makers are already transitioning away from this. It was just about sourcing higher quality products.”

A lot of familiar red products have switched to red dye 40. Worcester’s Polar Beverages said, while they use red 40 in a limited capacity, it’s best to keep things natural.

“You are what you eat, and you've got to choose your natural, simple foods," Christopher Crowley said. "We do have a little bit of color in, Cape Cod cranberry and raspberry, but most of ours is just plain seltzer; there's no color at all.”

Crowley said the push against red no. 3 has been coming for years.

"There's so much attention drawn to food colorings and food additives," Crowley said. "You're going to get run over by a bus more quickly than, food and food coloring is going to get you."

“There's a very strong need," Baskut Tuncak said, "to remove carcinogens and other chemicals of concern from everyday products.”

Tuncak directs the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at UMass Lowell. TURI works with companies to phase toxic chemicals out of their products. He said the FDA’s move away from red no. 3 is welcomed, but it could’ve come a lot sooner as it was banned from cosmetics nearly 35 years ago.

“To be honest, it's kind of a disingenuous or hypocritical approach sometimes, you know, where, it's a concession more to the industry than to the reality of what we can actually do with our innovative capacity to find safer alternatives," Tuncak said. "Companies have the capacity to innovate. They have the ability to get these chemicals of concern out of our products.”

Looking ahead, some say the doors are now open to create new and healthier food products without red dye no. 3.

“Other countries have done this a long time ago. So, it's about time that the United States caught up to it," Azier said. "I'm ready for, even though I'm in the candy industry, I'm ready for healthier options and healthier alternatives.”

"There's a lot of work to be done," Tuncak said. "But on the positive side, there's a lot of opportunity for businesses, to innovate.”