Americans will eat 1 billion Peeps this Easter. A California lawmaker wants to change its ingredients

Peeps' psychedelic pink color is the best thing about the marshmallow treat, but a spoilsport state lawmaker wants to ban erythrosine, a food coloring known as Red No. 3 that's used to give Peeps their vibrant hue.

Erythrosine is linked to cancer and was banned from makeup more than 30 years, ago, according to AP. But it's still allowed in food.

Democratic assemblymember Jesse Gabriel has introduced a bill to ban erythrosine and four other common food additives that have been linked to cancer.

"They still produce Skittles in other parts of the world. What they do is they take out these toxic ingredients, and they replace them with something else," Gabriel told AP. "What we really want is for these companies to make the same minor modifications to their recipes that they made in Europe and elsewhere."

The National Confectioners Association is pushing back. There's a lot more here at play than a simple soundbite solution," a spokesperson told AP. "We need a comprehensive look at this to make sure there aren't unintended consequences for chocolate and candy companies."