Some big changes are on the way for grape Kool-Aid drinks and wiggly blobs of cherry-flavored Jell-O.
On Tuesday, Kraft Heinz, the food giant best known for its ketchup and boxed Mac & Cheese, said it would remove all chemical dyes from its products by the end of 2027.
The company said the shift would affect only about 10 percent of its portfolio by sales. A spokeswoman confirmed it would affect brands like Kool-Aid, Jell-O, Crystal Light and other beverages and desserts that contain dyes like Red No. 40 and Blue No. 1.
Kraft Heinz is the first major food company to officially announce plans to stop using artificial colors. In April, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said he had reached “an understanding” with food manufacturers to remove commonly used artificial food dyes from their products by 2026.
Mr. Kennedy, as part of his Make America Healthy Again agenda, has long criticized the artificial dyes used in processed foods as part of a larger food system he says contributes to chronic disease and poor health.
The agency hoped to encourage food companies to remove the dyes voluntarily, rather than go through the arduous and time-consuming process of changing food regulations, which could have devolved into a courtroom battle over science and safety.
Nutritional and health experts may be pleased to see some petroleum-based colors go away, noting that a handful of studies have found links between some artificial food dyes and behavioral issues. But others have said it is unclear if removing the artificial dyes will have a meaningful effect on childhood obesity, diabetes or other chronic diseases.
It is also unknown whether other large food companies will follow Kraft Heinz’s lead. In mid-April, executives at PepsiCo, which makes Pepsi and Gatorade drinks as well as popular snacks like Doritos and Cheetos, told Wall Street analysts that it would either migrate its various brands into natural colors or provide the consumer with natural color options in the next few years. PepsiCo’s executives said about 60 percent of its business was from products with no artificial colors.
But Kraft, like other food and beverage giants, will face myriad challenges in trying to replicate its bright red cherry Kool-Aid or the orange in its Crystal Light drink mixes from natural sources. Food coloring experts caution that it can be tricky to match the shades with natural ingredients, could require changes in formulations and may be more costly as it takes significantly more natural ingredients to achieve the bright, saturated hues found in artificial colors.
Kraft, which quietly and successfully removed artificial colors from its popular bright orange macaroni and cheese product in 2016 by switching to turmeric and paprika, said it would not introduce any new products using synthetic dyes, effective immediately.
“The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors,” Pedro Navio, the president of North America at Kraft Heinz, said in a news release Tuesday. He noted that the company had been moving to reduce the use of artificial colors across its portfolio.
The company said it was mobilizing a team to figure out how to remove the artificial colors from all of its products. That team would either remove the colors when not critical to the consumer experience, replace the artificial dyes with natural colors or create new colors and shades, Kraft Heinz said.
Julie Creswell is a business reporter covering the food industry for The Times, writing about all aspects of food, including farming, food inflation, supply-chain disruptions and climate change.
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