The drink was recalled because of an undeclared food dye. On January 31, Oak Cliff Beverage Works issued a voluntary recall of its Beverage Base Lemonade, which was sold in three and five-gallon containers. The five-gallon products have a Best By date of January 1, 2026, while the three-gallon ones have a Best By date of December 12, 2025.
The recall involves 8,847 units of the lemonade, as noted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Affected products were sold in eight states: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The product was recalled due to an undeclared presence of a synthetic food dye, Yellow 5, in the drink.
The classification of the recall, due to Yellow 5, comes after the FDA banned the dye known as Red 3 from the nation’s food supply. Red 3 has often been used in candies, cough syrup, baked goods, and frozen treats. The agency said it was taking the action because studies found that the dye, also known as erythrosine, caused cancer in lab rats. A federal statute requires the FDA to ban any additive found to cause cancer in animals, though officials stressed that the way Red 3 leads to cancer in rats doesn’t happen in people.
Nine dyes, including Yellow 5, have been allowed in U.S. food. The other common color additives in food are Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, and Yellow 6. Two permitted colors are used more rarely: Citrus Red 2 and Orange B. Tri-Union Seafoods initiated the recall after its supplier discovered a manufacturing defect in the tuna cans’ “easy open” lids. The defect could “compromise the integrity of the product seal (especially over time), causing it to leak, or worse, be contaminated with clostridium botulinum,” a bacteria that causes foodborne botulism and can be fatal.
