U.S. health officials say they will urge food manufacturers to phase out oil-based artificial colors in the country's food supply, but have stopped pledging a formal ban and did not provide details on how they intend to achieve drastic change.
Food and Drug Director Marty McCurry said at a press conference Tuesday that he will take steps to eliminate synthetic dyes by the end of 2026, primarily by relying on voluntary efforts from the food industry. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who attended the rally, said he had heard of food manufacturers but had no formal agreement with them.
“We don't have any agreement. We have understanding,” Kennedy said.
Officials said the FDA will switch to natural alternatives, revoke approvals for non-produced dyes in the coming weeks and establish standards and timelines for the industry to take action to remove remaining dyes in the market.
“Today, the FDA is asking food companies to substitute petrochemical dyes for natural ingredients for American children, as they already do in Europe and Canada,” McCurry said.
The nation moves to prohibit or restrict the use of synthetic dyes used in candies and cereals
The proposed move is aimed at improving the health of children, he added.
“For the past 50 years, we have run one of the world's largest uncontrolled science experiments on children in our country without consent,” he said.
The process of revoking approved additives from food supplies usually takes several years and requires public comments, agency reviews and final rulemaking steps.
The industry group said chemicals are safe and proposed negotiating with regulators to make them available.
“FDA and regulatory agencies around the world believe our products and materials are safe and look forward to working with the Trump administration and Congress on this issue. “We certainly agree that science-based assessment of food additives will help eliminate consumer disruption and rebuild trust in the national food safety system.”
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Health advocates have long sought to remove artificial dyes from food, citing mixed studies that show that in some children it can cause neurological problems, including hyperactivity and attentional issues. The FDA argues that approved dyes are safe and “the wholeness of scientific evidence indicates that most children do not have a negative effect when consuming foods containing color additives.”
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The FDA currently allows 36 food color additives containing eight synthetic dyes. In January, the agency announced that a dye known as Red 3 (used in candies, cakes, and several drugs) would be banned in food by 2027 as it caused cancer in laboratory rats.
Artificial dyes are widely used in foods in the US. In Canada and Europe, manufacturers primarily use natural alternatives when synthetic colors are required to carry warning labels. Several states, including California and West Virginia, have passed laws restricting the use of artificial colors in food.
The announcement attracted praise from supporters who say that dyes pose health risks and do not serve any purpose other than cosmetics.
“Their sole purpose is to make food companies money,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Public Interest Science and former FDA official. “Food dyes help make them more attractive to children, especially for children, by hiding the lack of colorful ingredients, often like fruit.”
Removing artificial dyes from food has long been the goal of what is called Mahamama, Kennedy's major supporters, and his “American Health” initiative. They signed the petition and were among the protesters gathered outside WK Kellogg Co.'s Michigan headquarters last year, demanding that the company remove artificial dyes from its US breakfast cereals.
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Health officials argued that food manufacturers wanted clarity on the issue and were embracing change, but responses from industry groups were mixed.
The Consumer Brands Association, a trade group for food manufacturers, said it had long asked the FDA to assert its authority to regulate food at the national level, rather than leaving it to patchwork of state law. However, in a statement, the group urged FDA officials to “prioritize research that is objective, peer-reviewed and related to human health and safety.”
He added that the ingredients in question have been rigorously studied and proven safe.
Hours before the announcement, the International Dairy Association said its members would voluntarily eliminate artificial colors from milk, cheese and yogurt products sold to US school lunch programs by July 2026.
Other industry groups did not pledge to make prompt changes.
The International Color Manufacturers Association said it would require a reformulation request within less than two years. “We ignore scientific evidence and underestimate the complexity of food production. This process is neither simple nor immediate, and the resulting disruption in supply would limit access to familiar, affordable groceries.”
Susan Maine, a chronic disease expert at Yale University and former director of the FDA's food center, said removing dyes from the food supply doesn't address the major health issues that afflict Americans.
“All of their announcements are focused on something that doesn't accomplish what they say,” Main said of Kennedy's initiative. “Most of these food dyes have been in the food supply for 100 years. … So why aren't they driving towards a reduction in what promotes chronic disease rates?”
In the past, FDA officials said the threat of legal action from the food industry required the government to have important scientific evidence before banning additives. Red 3 was banned from cosmetics more than 30 years before it was stripped of food and medicine. It took the FDA 50 years to ban brominated vegetable oils due to health concerns.
Some state laws banning synthetic dyes in school lunches have an aggressive timeline. For example, the West Virginia ban bans red, yellow, blue and green artificial dyes from school lunches starting August 1st.
Many US food companies have already reformulated their food, according to Sensory Color, one of the world's largest producers of food dyes and flavors. Instead of synthetic dyes, food makers can use natural tints made from beets, algae, purple sweet potatoes, radish, algae made from red cabbage, and crushed insects and pigments.