RFK Jr. announces plan to ban 8 types of artificial colors by 2026
According to the Ministry of Health, eight types of artificial dyes will be banned from medicines and the public’s food supply by the end of 2026. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said:
Several questions are emerging as companies race to comply with new U.S. standards to phase out food coloring from pharmaceutical and food supplies. Will new foods without artificial colors look and taste the same? Will they be healthier? Will consumers accept them?
it’s complicated.
“We eat using all five of our senses,” said Jamie Allan, an associate professor of pharmacy and toxicology at Michigan State University. For example, “When colors look different, we naturally think, ‘Hmm, I should question that.'”
When the color changes, so does the taste.
The Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced plans to phase out certain petroleum-based artificial dyes earlier this year. President Kennedy called the dye “poison.” Some food activists have praised the move.
“The industry has been looking for healthier ingredients for years already,” Monica Giusti, a food engineer and associate dean of the Ohio State University College of Food Engineering, told USA TODAY. “They’re looking at switching from synthetic colorants to more natural options. But it’s hard to recreate the same shade, the same intensity, the same vibrance.”
And some experiments that have looked at whether color changes taste perception have found that it does, Allan said.
Substituting natural ingredients can also affect flavor, she said.
“Some natural food colors have unique tastes,” Alan said, adding that turmeric, for example, can have a very strong flavor when added in large amounts.
But individual tastes also differ and could be affected even more if, for example, the person was a smoker, she said.
Allan says expectations for color and flavor can also vary by region of the world. Alan said that in the UK, a red drink would be expected to be cherry or strawberry, while in Thailand it would be cranberry.
Would chips be healthier without dye?
Allan says phasing out some artificial colors likely won’t change food products much nutritionally. Some foods may have new natural ingredients added that are used for coloring and antioxidants, but are unlikely to have any additional health benefits, she said.
prices may rise
While shoppers may not notice a big difference in some foods that no longer use artificial colors, “in many other products, they will perceive the product as not having the same beautiful color as before. It doesn’t look as appealing,” Giusti says.
To imitate a product’s previous look, manufacturers would have to invest more money, which could drive up prices, she said. And the product may not stay on the shelf for long.
Click here for the latest information on food coloring phasing out
Health and Human Services Secretary John Kennedy announced in April that eight types of artificial dyes would be “phased out” from medicines and the nation’s food supply by the end of 2026. Those dyes are FD&C Blue No. 1 and 2, FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red No. 40, and FD&C Yellow No. 5 and 6.
This month, Walmart became the latest company to announce it would remove synthetic dyes from its products. Walmart announced that it will eliminate 11 synthetic colors from its private food brands by January 2027.
Walmart joins other brands that have pledged to remove synthetic dyes from their products over the next year, including General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Hershey’s, PepsiCo, Conagra Brands (Duncan Hines and Birds Eye), Nestlé USA, PepsiCo, and McCormick & Company.
Is the timeline realistic?
Mr Giusti said there was some concern about whether manufacturers would be able to meet deadlines set for phasing out artificial dyes. Nearly a decade ago, many companies announced they would remove synthetics from food, then backtracked and never followed through.
“I think there’s a lot of potential for change because there’s so much regulatory pressure now and so much consumer demand, but at the same time, some companies seem to be rushing things,” she said.
Giusti said some manufacturers are likely to say they use all-natural colors, but he worries that not all colorants are allowed. Giusti said she and others are starting a project to develop methods of monitoring authenticity to prevent misrepresentation.
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her at @blinfisher on X, Facebook and Instagram and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky.. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, breaking down complex consumer and financial news. Subscribe here.
