Two major food producers say they will pull artificial colors Of their American products from 2027.
The change occurs almost two months after American health officials said they urged food manufacturers to eliminate oil -based artificial colors.
Kraft Heinz said on Tuesday that it would remove the artificial colors from its American products from 2027 and no longer deploy new products with colors. A few hours later, General Mills announced that it was planning to remove artificial dyes from all its American cereals and all the foods served in K-12 schools by summer 2026. He also seeks to eliminate the dyes of his full American retail portfolio by the end of 2027.
Kraft Heinz said on Tuesday that almost 90% of its American products already do not contain food, drugs and cosmetics, but that products that still use colors will have them removed by the end of 2027. FD & C colors are synthetic additives that are approved by the American administration of food and drugs for use in food, drugs and cosmetics.
Kraft Heinz said that many of its American products that still use FD & C colors are in its drinking and dessert categories, including certain products sold in brands such as Crystal Light, Kool Aid, Jel-O and Jet Puffed.
The company said that it would rather use natural colors for products.
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“The vast majority of our products use natural colors or none, and we have been traveling to reduce our use of FD & C colors in the rest of our portfolio,” said Pedro Navio, president of North America in Kraft Heinz, in a press release.
Kraft Heinz stripped artificial colors, flavors and preservatives of his macaroni and cheeses in 2016 and said that he had never used artificial colors in his ketchup.
The company plans to work with license holders of its brands to encourage them to remove dyes.
General Mills said that the changes he made has only an impact on a small part of his school activities K-12, because almost all of his school items are already carried out without artificial colors. In addition, 85% of the American foods of the company that is sold to retail are already made without dyes.
“Through the long arc of our history, General Mills quickly evolved to meet the evolutionary needs of consumers, and reformulate our product portfolio to remove certified colors is another example,” said Chairman and CEO Jeff Harming in a press release.
In April, the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said at a press conference that the agency would take measures to eliminate synthetic dyes by the end of 2026, largely based on the voluntary efforts of the food industry.
Health defenders have long called for the elimination of artificial food colors, citing mixed studies indicating that they can cause neurobehavioral problems, including problems of hyperactivity and attention, in some children. The FDA argued that approved dyes are safe and that “all scientific evidence shows that most children have no side effects when consuming foods containing colored additives”.
The FDA currently authorizes 36 food additives, including eight synthetic dyes. In January, the agency announced that the coloring known as Red 3 – used in candies, cakes and certain drugs – would be prohibited in food by 2027 because it caused cancer of laboratory rats.
Artificial dyes are widely used in American foods. In Canada and Europe – where synthetic colors are necessary to transport warning labels – manufacturers mainly use natural substitutes. Several states, including California and Virginia-Western, have adopted laws restricting the use of artificial colors in food.
Many American food companies already reformulate their food, according to Sensient Colors, one of the world’s largest producers of dietary colors and aromas. Instead of synthetic dyes, food manufacturers can use natural shades made from beets, algae and insects and crigments crushed from purple sweet potatoes, radish and red cabbage.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press