MAHA’s one achievement so far: voluntary elimination of artificial food colors

RFK Jr’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) made many promises, most of them still in the works.  But one seems to be well on the way to being achieved.  Under MAHA pressure, some companies agreed to voluntarily remove petroleum-based food colors by the end of 2027.

I went to the Target in Ithaca, NY last week and could not find a single kids’ cereal containing the dyes Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6, and Blue 1.

Target promised not to sell cereals with those dyes.  It has kept that promise.

But the Ithaca Tops still carries Froot Loops and other brightly colored, artificially dyed kids’ cereals.  Maybe they will be gone by the end of 2027?

This is a voluntary initiative.  No regulation is involved, to the great dismay of advocates.

The shift to vegetable-based dyes

• Nestlé USA removes artificial colors in all food and beverages:  The Nesquik maker joined other food manufacturers last year in pledging to eliminate synthetic dyes from the rest of its portfolio following pressure from the Trump administration.
• General Mills launches Trix, Lucky Charms cereals with natural colors: The Cotton Candy and “Moana” varieties will debut this summer, the same time the food giant expects to remove synthetic dyes across its cereals.

How is it going?

• How the shift away from artificial dyes is impacting food sales: Sales of products with natural colors grew more than those using synthetic dyes, a report from the National Confectioners Association and RTI International found.
• One Year Later: Are Synthetic Dyes Still in Our Food? Despite growing consumer concern and awareness of synthetic dyes, the Food and Drug Administration has not taken action to ban them in full. Instead, last year, the FDA called on food manufacturers to voluntarily phase them out of their products. While a number of companies have made significant commitments toward that end, others have committed to much more limited changes.
• Kennedy touts food dye crackdown as a midterm win, but big holdouts remain: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced plans to phase out all artificial dyes from the food supply by the end of 2026. Roughly half of the major food companies have agreed to do so, though only four are meeting that deadline.

Why vegetable colors are a challenge for makers of ultra-processed foods

• Natural Colour Industry Prepares for Major Shift: The global colour industry is bracing for an unprecedented period of growth in natural colour demand due to widespread U.S. market conversion from synthetic dyes. Sensient is making major investments to secure supply and production capacity… Learn more
• Mars’ artificial-dye-free push hits major reformulation hurdles: Mars to introduce artificial-colour-free M&M’s but reformulation challenges leave two colours out in the cold… Read more
• Why food scientists still can’t crack the perfect natural red: Creating a heat-stable natural red remains one of food science’s toughest colour challenges… Read more

Comment

Advocacy groups like CSPI have for years called for removal of these dyes.  Since they are long gone from Europe, Australia, and other countries, you would think they would be easy to replace.

The problem?  Kids (and adults) think cereals and candy taste better when they are brightly colored.  Vegetable dyes are not vivid enough.

When General Mills took the dyes out of Trix some years ago, sales went down.  General Mills reinstated the dyes.

RFK Jr has explicitly stated that he opposes regulation (“nanny state”).  Hence, voluntary.

If companies can remove the dyes voluntarily, they can also volunteer to put them back.

This is a lost opportunity.

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