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As artificial food dyes are increasingly restricted at the state and federal levels, some manufacturers are trying to switch to natural dyes to color their food.
Dr. Marty McCurry, Director General of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, announced at a briefing on April 22 that the agency will work with the industry to phase out the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes in U.S. food supplies.
These dyes are commonly used to create food and beverage products that are bright and attractive to consumers. It includes Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5 and 6, Blue No. 1 and 2, and Green No. 3.
According to the FDA, natural food dyes that can replace them are derived from vegetables, fruits, animals and minerals.
Makary’s announcement is the latest move to ensure food companies stop using artificial dyes due to concerns about the adverse effects on animal and human health.
The FDA is quickly endorsing four new natural coloring substances and aims to quickly track reviews from others, including Gardière Extract Blue, Gardenia Blue, Butterfly Pea Flower Extract, and calcium phosphate.
“The FDA is asking food companies to (voluntarily) substitute petrochemical dyes with natural ingredients aimed at American children,” McCurry said in a news release. “… Given the growing concern among physicians and parents about the potential role of oil-based food dyes, we should not take risks and do everything possible to protect our children’s health.”
The FDA announcement follows a major change in the legal landscape regarding food additives over the past two years. California banned red No. 3 statewide in October 2023, and then in August it banned six other common dyes in school foods.
The FDA was effective on food on January 15th, 2027, drug effective on January 18th, 2028, and banned Red No. 3 in January, but now the agency is asking food companies to eliminate dyes more quickly. And in March, West Virginia passed its most drastic law to date, banning seven dyes and two preservatives.
“We’ve seen a lot of fun and hard work,” said Dr. Monica Justy, professor and vice-chairman of the Department of Food Science and Technology at Ohio State University. “Finally, we’ve seen some sort of regulatory action.”
Some natural dyes are already used in products sold in the US, and some stores have policies that prohibit the sale of food with synthetic dyes, said Melanie Benesch, vice president of the government of Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental health organization.
CNN contacted the FDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for comment, but did not return the time for publication.
Below is how it affects alternative dyes and their manufacturers and human health.
Many Natural dyes are already approved by the FDA and are adjusted in a different way than their artificial counterparts. The FDA requires manufacturers to submit samples of batches of synthetic colors for testing and certification. Natural color additives are exempt, but they are still valued by agents.
One of the most popular alternatives to bright red pigments is Cochineal extract or its lake, Carmine. (The lake is a fat-soluble version of the dye.)
Cochineal dyes are from the small, dried, crushed bodies of female cochineal insects that are almost and easily harvested from Peruvian cactus. It is so vigorously colored that simply crushing them with your fingers leaves a stain on them, and cochineal insects have been used as colorants for centuries, dating back to the INCA civilization that began in the 13th century.
Other natural dyes include anato extracts (yellow) from seeds of tropical tree seed, and blue to brown colorants produced from juice, powder or dehydrated beets, experts said.
There is also beta-carotene (yellow or orange) found in many plants, including carrots. Grape skin extract (red or purple); orange and red spice stermeric and saffron. According to experts, green chlorophyll, spirulina extract and matcha said.
“Naturally derived food colors come in a variety of ways to process them, and several methods are available for several colors,” said Renee Leber, Food Science and Technology Services Manager at the Food Technology Institute at the Food Technology Institute, via email. Research institute membership includes people working in food production.
As research into the effects of artificial dyes on human health remains underfunded, there is even less support for research into natural alternatives, experts said.
However, in general, “compounds that give color to fruits and vegetables tend to have additional beneficial properties for human health,” such as anti-inflammatory agents.
According to the Public Interest Center, a small percentage of consumers report fatal severity from hives to anaphylactic shock. This is fatal. Therefore, the ingredient is “identified as an allergic substance that must be declared on all food and cosmetic labels,” according to the FDA.
“These dyes have proteins that some people are allergic to,” says Dr. Marion Nestle, professor of public health in Paulette Goddard nutrition, food research and public health at New York University. “It can happen in very small amounts of sensitive people.”
However, since most natural dyes come from plants and are used in small quantities, “it’s hard to believe they’re effective,” Nestlé added.
Even if natural dyes may generally make human health safer, there are industry concerns about the potential impact on the appeal and feasibility of the product.
One reason manufacturers prefer petroleum-based dyes is that, in combination with other ingredients, they are preserved over time and when exposed to elements, their chemical structure does not change much, Justy said. Cochineal insects provide an intense and stable color, but the dyes in plant materials are not stable.
The difference is “very challenging for businesses, because, for example, if a company is producing 10 different red products, it could use one synthetic dye,” Giusti said. “However, if you want to replace synthetic colors with natural alternatives, you may need to use up to 10 natural dyes.”
Also, although there are many different alternatives to natural dyes, they cannot produce a spectrum of colours that some synthetic dyes can make. These factors can make products containing natural dyes more expensive than those with synthetic colors.
It can take six months to a year to convert only one product from synthetic dyes to natural colorants.
“It’s not like £150 million of beet juice is sitting down on a coincidence where the entire market could convert,” Paul Manning, the company’s chief executive, told the Associated Press. “Ten millions of pounds of these products need to be grown, drawn from the ground and extracted.”
It’s the same supply problem as cokinyl dye. According to the AP, approximately 70,000 republican insects are needed to produce around 2.2 pounds, or a kilogram of dye.
Some food companies have previously received backlash when switching to natural dyes, with some consumers reporting differences in taste. However, Nestlé said these experiences are likely to be biased perceptions as the product compositions usually remain the same.
The companies “were able to remove them in other countries and substitute vegetable dyes,” Nestlé said. “This seems easy to me.”