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Yes, this is real. One glass of Ocean Spray Diet Cran-Grape had more Red 40 than a serving of Flamin' Hot Cheetos in a Consumer Reports lab test.In June 2026 Consumer Reports teamed up with the food scanning app Yuka and lab tested 40 popular US foods for additives.One 8 ounce serving of Ocean Spray Diet Cran-Grape Juice Drink had 12.56 milligrams of Red 40.One serving of Crunchy Flamin' Hot Cheetos had 10.79 milligrams.Only one product in the whole test had more: Jell-O Zero Sugar chocolate pudding.Consumer Reports compared each result to a daily safety level for Red 40 from California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. For a 51 pound child, that works out to about 1.6 milligrams a day.So one glass of this diet juice is nearly 8 times that level for a child. For an adult, it is more than 2.5 times.Of the 13 products in the test that had Red 40, five went over the child level in a single serving. This juice was one of only three that also went over the adult level.Store listings show Red 40 and Blue 1 near the end of the ingredient list, along with the sweeteners sucralose and acesulfame potassium.Why it matters: in 2021 California's health hazard office concluded that synthetic food dyes, a group that includes Red 40, "can result in hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral problems in some children."In Europe, foods made with this dye must carry a warning on the package: "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children."To be fair: Red 40 is approved by the FDA. The FDA says most children have no adverse effects from color additives, but some evidence suggests certain children may be sensitive to them. California's level is not a legal limit, and Consumer Reports used the less strict of the two numbers in the state's report. California's review looked at seven dyes as a group and did not single out one dye. Lab results are a snapshot, and recipes can change.Ocean Spray told Consumer Reports its product meets US regulatory standards. The company says it plans to relaunch Diet Cran-Grape and its other diet drinks with only natural colors in early 2027.Diet does not mean dye free. Turn the bottle over before it goes in the cart.Sources: Consumer Reports and Yuka, "These Popular Snacks Contain High Levels of Additives and Contaminants" and test results (June 9, 2026); California OEHHA, "Health Effects Assessment: Potential Neurobehavioral Effects of Synthetic Food Dyes in Children" (April 2021); Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex V; FDA, "Color Additives Questions and Answers for Consumers"; Hannaford, ShopRite and Brookshire's ingredient listings, read October 10, 2026.#oceanspray #red40 #ditchthedye #readthelabel #fooddye