Video above: FDA announces in April 2025 that it will phase out food dyes.
(NEXSTAR) — Dozens of companies that make ice cream and frozen dairy desserts announced on Monday that they would remove artificial food dyes from their products by 2028, marking yet another voluntary move away from such food coloring within the food industry.
It comes in response to a mission set forth by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove the artificial additives.
Why are companies ditching artificial dyes?
In April, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency would move to eliminate several synthetic dyes by the end of next year. That includes Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, and Blue 2. Red 3 was set to be banned in food by 2027 because it caused cancer in laboratory rats; the FDA called for that deadline to move up.
The agency is relying largely on voluntary efforts by food manufacturers but also plans to establish a standard and timeline for the food industry to switch to natural alternatives and revoke authorization for dyes not in production. Additionally, the FDA said it would authorize four new natural color additives.
Which companies have said they’ll stop using dyes?
Many U.S. food companies are already reformulating their foods, according to Sensient Colors, one of the world’s largest producers of food dyes and flavorings. In place of synthetic dyes, foodmakers can use natural hues made from beets, algae and crushed insects and pigments from purple sweet potatoes, radishes and red cabbage.
Among those that have recently announced plans to ditch synthetic colors are General Mills, Pepsico, ConAgra, Nestle, McCormick, Tyson Foods, Sam’s Club, JM Smucker, Hershey, and Kraft Heinz. In-N-Out confirmed to Nexstar’s KLTA in May that it was removing artificial coloring from some items.
Nonetheless, relying on voluntary action rather than regulatory requirements won’t guarantee compliance, said Thomas Galligan, a scientist with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group.
“Talk is cheap,” Galligan said. “It’s easy for companies to make promises to look like they’re being compliant and generate goodwill among consumers and the Trump administration, but it remains to be seen if they will actually follow through.”
Not every company is joining in. Mars, which makes Skittles and M&M’s, has been a hold-out, according to reports.
Are artificial dyes bad?
Artificial dyes are used widely in U.S. foods. In Canada and in Europe — where synthetic colors are required to carry warning labels — manufacturers mostly use natural substitutes. Several states, including California and West Virginia, have passed laws restricting the use of artificial colors in foods.
Health advocates have long called for the removal of artificial dyes from foods, citing mixed studies indicating they can cause neurobehavioral problems, including hyperactivity and attention issues, in some children. The FDA has maintained that the approved dyes are safe and that “the totality of scientific evidence shows that most children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing color additives.”
The FDA currently allows 36 food color additives, including eight synthetic dyes.
Removing dyes from the food supply will not address the chief health problems that plague Americans, said Susan Mayne, a Yale University chronic disease expert and former director of the FDA’s food center.
“With every one of their announcements, they’re focusing in on something that’s not going to accomplish what they say it is,” Mayne said of Kennedy’s initiatives. “Most of these food dyes have been in our food supply for 100 years. … So why aren’t they driving toward reductions in things that do drive chronic disease rates?”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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