Dive Brief:
- Kraft Heinz said it would remove artificial colors from its products by the end of 2027 and would no longer add synthetic dyes to new offerings. The food and beverage maker estimated 10% of its U.S. products by net sales contain artificial colors.
- The Crystal Light and Kool-Aid maker said it would remove dyes that are “not critical to the consumer experience,” replace them with natural colors, or invent new colors where matching natural replacements are not available.
- The move comes as the Trump administration pushes food and beverage companies to remove synthetic dyes from their products. The FDA in April asked the industry to voluntarily remove six synthetic dyes before 2027.
Dive Insight:
For years, food companies and industry trade groups defended their use of artificial colors in the face of backlash that the dyes could be linked to health issues or neurobehavioral problems, noting they had been deemed safe by the FDA and other regulators.
But efforts by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., coupled with a groundswell of consumer support toward healthier foods, have prompted manufacturers such as Kraft Heinz to take action.
Pedro Navio, Kraft Heinz’s North America president, said the company is constantly evolving its recipes, noting it removed artificial colors, preservatives and flavors from Kraft Mac & Cheese in 2016. A few of its products contain synthetic dyes, including Jell-O, Crystal Light and Jet-Puffed marshmallows.
“The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors, and we’ve been on a journey to reduce our use of [artificial] colors across the remainder of our portfolio,” Navio said in a statement. “We are focused on providing nutritious, affordable, and great-tasting food for Americans and this is a privilege we don’t take lightly.”
Kraft Heinz is not the only food company that has announced efforts to remove the controversial ingredients from their products in recent months.
PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta, for example, said in April the snacking giant would be “accelerating” its transition to natural ingredients amid increasing consumer demand and pressure from the White House. And Brendan Foley, McCormick’s CEO, said a month earlier that the ingredient and flavorings company is seeing “a tick-up in reformulation activity” among restaurants and food manufacturers as efforts to ban synthetic dyes in food gain momentum.
Some companies and industry officials have cautioned that the FDA may be moving too fast in its efforts to remove artificial colors. Businesses will need time to ensure they can get enough supply of natural ingredient replacements and assess how the new colors will impact things such as product shelf life, price and packaging.
Blair Klein, vice president of institutional affairs and corporate communications at Nerds and Laffy Taffy maker Ferrara, said the timeline to transition to natural colors is “aggressive” based on conversations the company has had with suppliers about the availability of natural replacements.
“It’s going to be a heavy lift for the whole category,” Klein recently told Food Dive.
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