United States health authorities announced Tuesday plans to gradually eliminate synthetic food colorings from the nation’s food products. This could lead to major changes for many vibrant, colorful products sold in American stores.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin steps to remove these dyes by the close of 2026, according to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary during a press conference. The FDA will define standards and a timeline for the food industry to switch to natural options, cancel permissions for dyes no longer being used in the coming weeks, and act to eliminate any remaining dyes still on the market.
Makary stated that getting rid of artificial dyes would be beneficial for the health of children.
“For the past half-century, we’ve essentially been conducting a massive, uncontrolled scientific experiment on the children of our country without their permission,” Makary said.
Health advocates have long pushed for artificial dyes to be removed from foods, citing studies with varying conclusions that suggest these dyes may lead to neurobehavioral issues, such as hyperactivity and attention problems, in some children. The FDA has stood by its position that the approved dyes are safe and that “the complete body of scientific evidence indicates that most children experience no negative effects from consuming food products with color additives.”
Currently, the FDA permits the use of 36 food color additives, which include eight synthetic dyes. Earlier this year, in January, the agency stated that Red 3, a dye found in candies, cakes, and certain medications, would be prohibited from use in food by 2027 because it was found to cause cancer in lab rats.
Artificial dyes are commonly used in American food products. In both Canada and Europe, manufacturers primarily use natural alternatives, where warning labels are required for artificial colors. Several states, including California and West Virginia, have enacted legislation to limit the use of artificial colors in food products.
The announcement was welcomed by advocates who believe that these dyes pose health risks and offer no value beyond aesthetics.
“Their sole purpose is to generate revenue for food companies,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest and a former FDA official. “Food dyes help to make highly processed foods more appealing, particularly to children, often by concealing the absence of a colorful ingredient, like fruit.”
Removing artificial dyes from food has long been a key objective of the so-called MAHA moms, who are important supporters of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his “Make America Healthy Again” initiatives. This group was among protestors who signed petitions and demonstrated outside the Michigan headquarters of WK Kellogg Co. last year, urging the company to remove artificial dyes from its breakfast cereals in the U.S.
The group included Vani Hari, a well-known food activist known as the Food Babe, who had previously pressured Kraft Heinz to remove artificial dyes from its macaroni and cheese. Hari was a speaker at Tuesday’s event.
She stated that the action signals “a new era” for safer food for children.
However, food manufacturers responded by saying the action would unfairly target highly regulated color additives long confirmed to be safe.
“There are not enough alternatives available to replace these products,” the International Association of Color Manufacturers said in a statement. “Supply chains will take an estimated five to 10 years to catch up and require importing more expensive ingredients grown in China, India and Mexico.”
A spokesperson for the National Confectioners Association, a trade group representing candy, gum, and mint manufacturers, stated that the industry “needs time to identify safe and practical alternatives.”
Removing dyes from the food supply will not solve the main health problems that affect Americans, according to Susan Mayne, a Yale University chronic disease expert and past 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?”
In the past, FDA officials have said that the threat of lawsuits from the food industry required the government to have considerable scientific evidence before banning additives. It took over three decades for Red 3 to be banned from cosmetics before it was removed from food and medicine. It took the FDA five decades to ban brominated vegetable oil due to health concerns.
But Lurie suggested that industry officials might not challenge the Trump administration.
“They don’t want to get on the wrong side of a vindictive president,” he said.
Several hours before the announcement, the International Dairy Foods Association stated that its members would voluntarily remove artificial colors from milk, cheese, and yogurt products sold to U.S. school meal programs by July 2026. Officials at the dairy trade group noted that the majority of dairy products for schools do not include artificial colors because most dairy processors have either chosen not to use them or have already removed or replaced them.
Several of the state laws that ban synthetic dyes in school meals have very aggressive timelines. For example, West Virginia’s ban prohibits the use of red, yellow, blue, and green artificial dyes in school meals beginning on August 1. A more comprehensive ban will extend the restrictions to all foods sold in the state on January 1, 2028.
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. Food manufacturers can use natural colors derived from beets, algae, crushed insects, and pigments from purple sweet potatoes, radishes, and red cabbage instead of synthetic dyes.
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Aleccia reported from California.