Flemming v. Florida Citrus Exchange

Background

Commercial orange growers and packers in Florida and Texas challenged a federal health official’s order removing the certification of a red coal‑tar color called Red 32. Red 32 had been certified in 1939, but after animal tests run in 1951–1953 showed toxic effects, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare held hearings and in 1955 took the color off the certified list. The Secretary did not find evidence that the tiny amounts on orange skins were harmful to people, but animal tests showed damage and death at feeding levels well above the amounts on peels. A federal appeals court partly set aside the Secretary’s order for use on orange skins, and Congress briefly allowed use until March 1, 1959.

Reasoning

The Court considered whether the official could remove a color from the certified list because the color itself was toxic, and whether a separate rule that allows tolerances could nevertheless permit its use on oranges. The Court said Congress intended the certification to focus on the color substance itself: if a coal‑tar color is not shown to be harmless, it cannot be certified and therefore cannot be used in food. The tolerance rules apply to different kinds of added poisons and do not authorize use of an uncertified coal‑tar color. The Court reversed the appeals court and upheld the Secretary’s order.

Real world impact

Growers and packers who had relied on Red 32 must stop using it for food coloring unless it is re‑certified. The temporary 1956 law delaying the ban until 1959 does not change the permanent rule that uncertified, toxic colors may be excluded from food. The decision emphasizes that laboratory evidence of a color’s toxicity can justify a national prohibition on its use in foods.