There’s something about red snappers that inspires fanaticism.

While the gaudy dogs aren’t for everyone, they’re nearly as iconic a Maine foodstuff as wild blueberries, lobsters and whoopie pies. “It’s a matter of pride,” said Michael Labbe of Gardiner, author of the former “Hot Dogs of Maine” blog. “People like to hang their hats on something that is geographically theirs. Red snappers are a Maine thing.”

Those who love them stand proud, even if they’re not sure exactly why they’re so partisan. Labbe would choose a red snapper — named for its distinctive color and the “snap” its natural casing makes when bitten — over a standard brown frank 10 out of 10 times, though he’s aware the food coloring doesn’t affect the flavor.

“Whether it’s psychosomatic or not, I think they taste better,” he said. “For whatever reason, it’s more appealing for me. When you get a nice steamed red snapper and that perfectly steamed, New England-style top-split bun, there’s nothing better. It’s comfort.”

Alan Dill of Lincoln, two-time winner of the red snapper-eating contest at the Maine Red Hot Dog Festival in Dexter, said he swears by snappers from W.A. Bean & Sons. The six-generation family meat business in Bangor is the only Maine company that still makes them.

“The taste is really good,” said Dill, who knocked back 10 Bean snappers in four minutes to win the title in Dexter in 2024. “I’ve tried a lot of hot dogs, like Hebrew Nationals, and they just don’t do it for me. I do prefer the red snappers. I like how it feels when you bite into them. Even if I eat a bunch of them, I never get tired of them. They’re doing something right (at W.A. Bean) that’s been popular for a long time now.”

So when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January announced a ban on Red Dye No. 3 in foods because high doses of it caused cancer in lab rats, red snapper fans worried their beloved dogs were suddenly an endangered species. The agency itself suggested the ban was being enacted out of an abundance of caution, offering the caveat that “the way that (Red Dye No. 3) causes cancer in male rats does not occur in humans… Studies in other animals and in humans did not show these effects.”

The FDA gave food manufacturers until Jan. 15, 2027, to remove Red Dye No. 3 from their products. The deadline proved no trouble at all for the team at W.A. Bean. The company started replacing its artificial coloring with a natural dye this winter, aiming to make the transition seamless.

THE ROAD TO ALL-NATURAL

“We’ve been working on a replacement for that dye for a long time — it’s been a goal of ours,” said W.A. Bean Director of Sales Sean Smith, pointing to a rack of red snapper links fresh out of the dye shower in the “kitchen” at Bean’s production plant. “We’re not fighting science. We want to get ahead of it as well. We want to make sure we can stand behind a product the people of Maine are proud of.”

W.A. Bean makes between 500,000 and 700,000 pounds of red snappers a year using a filler-free blend of beef and pork, each hand-tied link stuffed in natural hog intestine casing. Summer is peak red snapper season, of course, when the plant’s production bumps up as much as 50%, though the switch to natural coloring hasn’t slowed them any.

The FDA also aims to eliminate Red Dye No. 40 from the food supply by the end of 2026. W.A. Bean’s red snappers still contain Red No. 40, but Smith said the company has been working with food coloration consultants to develop a natural substitute. “Our hot dogs will be all-natural within one year,” he said. “We’re good to go.”

Local public health advocates applaud both the FDA directive and W.A. Bean’s prompt action ahead of government deadlines.

“I was very glad to see the FDA take this step,” said Emily Carey Perez de Alejo, executive director of Defend Our Health, a Portland nonprofit that lobbies against toxic chemical exposures. “Petroleum products should not be put into food, especially food we give to kids.” Perez de Alejo noted that the artificial dyes are also used widely in sugary cereals, cupcake mixes and sprinkles.

“It’s really good that (W.A. Bean) has decided to move on it faster and they’re working aggressively to get the red dye out of the red snappers,” she continued. “We can still have a quite bright red (snapper) with a natural food dye. The dye is purely aesthetic and doesn’t change the flavor, so those red dogs that everybody loves are going to still taste delicious.”

Ryan Cormier, co-owner of Cormier’s Dog House in Windham, said he couldn’t detect a difference in flavor with the newly formulated W.A. Bean snappers. Though there’s been talk of cherry or beet juices as viable natural coloring substitutes for red snappers, Smith wouldn’t disclose the source of the new red.

CHANGING DYES, PRESERVING COLOR AND TASTE

But people like Lonnie Humphrey, who make their livings from red snappers, trust that the new dyes won’t noticeably change them. Red snappers are the only kind of franks Humphrey sells at his Lonnie Dogs cart in Gray.

“One of my favorite lines to my customers is, ‘You can’t be a redneck and sell pale brown hot dogs.'” Humphrey quipped. “The people who don’t want a red snapper, we tease them that they’re tourists.”

Humphrey has used red snappers from Jordan’s Meats since he launched his cart business in 1978. A former Maine producer, Jordan’s is now based in Massachusetts and owned by Kayem Foods Inc. Like W.A. Bean, Jordan’s will need to reformulate its snapper recipe to eliminate artificial dyes.

“I’m not worried about any changes Jordan’s will make,” Humphrey said. “It’s big business and they sell a lot of them. They’re going to put some time and money into the problem and try to fix it the best way they can. All my competitors will be up against the same thing, so it really doesn’t alarm me.”

Though Maine alone calls them red snappers, red hot dogs have fanbases in other areas of the country, like Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina, where they’re sometimes known as “red hots.” Some Southern meat companies like Carolina Packers Inc., in Smithfield, N.C., aren’t as far along in the dye changeover process yet as W.A. Bean.

“We are actively searching for a solution,” said Steve Mozingo, sales manager at Carolina Packers. “We don’t know yet what it is, but we’re confident there will be one.”

While natural food dyes aren’t completely flavorless, industry insiders believe the small amounts needed to color red snappers won’t noticeably alter their taste. “Consumers shouldn’t see a whole lot of change, other than the ingredients list would reflect a different coloring source as manufacturers incorporate changes,” said Eric Mittenthal, president of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council.

Other area brands, like Shields Meats & Produce in Kennebunk — which manufactures its red snappers in Connecticut — are also busy working to find a new natural dye formulation that keeps their product looking and tasting the same. Since launching their line of red snappers in 2004, Shields makes about 250,000 pounds a year, including the foot-longs at Highroller Lobster Co.

“We’re going to be way ahead of the regulation deadline,” said Dean Shields, co-owner of the 102-year-old company. “You try to do it so it doesn’t change the color or what it is.”

APPROVAL FROM THE CHAMP

Dill said that like Cormier, he can’t detect any change with W.A. Bean’s new formulation. “I really haven’t noticed a difference in taste,” he said. “And I would guess I’m probably the number one eater of red snappers in the state of Maine.”

Dill has already started training for the snapper-eating contest at Dexter’s ninth Maine Red Hot Dog Festival on Saturday, Aug. 9. But this year, there’s a hitch: The 66-year-old had all his teeth pulled last November.

“I tried the false teeth, and it hasn’t worked out for me,” he said. “So I’m eating things without my teeth in my mouth. I’m trying to adapt on the red snappers.”

His toothless chewing has been fine so far for whoopie pies — Dill also won last year’s whoopie pie-eating contest at the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival in Dover-Foxcroft — but he’s needed to get creative with the snappers. He’s adopting an approach he calls “hand chewing.”

“I have to break them up with my two hands and then shove them in my mouth,” Dill explained. “It’s about trying to get the pieces just the right consistency, because if they’re too big, I don’t want to be swallowing them.”

Dill has been making test runs at home, honing his technique with 10 red snappers at a time.

“I’m slower than before. I think I’m going to have to eat quite a few hot dogs between now and (the festival),” he added. “But I’ve got to go back and defend the title.”