Kraft Heinz will phase out all artificial dyes from its U.S. products by 2027 and additionally will not launch any new products containing the dyes, the food and beverage company announced Tuesday.
The move follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s ban of red dye No. 3 from food products, announced in January, as well as a strong urging in April from U.S. health officials for foodmakers to phase out all petroleum-based artificial colors.
Kraft Heinz said Tuesday that some 90% of its products already don’t contain food, drug & cosmetic colors (FD&C colors), but that any products that do contain them will have the dyes removed by 2027. FD&Cs are synthetic additives approved by the FDA for use in food, drugs, and cosmetics.
For the portion of products that do currently contain FD&C colors, the company said it plans to either remove colors, replace them with natural colors, or invent new colors and shades in cases where there isn’t a matching natural replacement.
“The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors, and we’ve been on a journey to reduce our use of FD&C colors across the remainder of our portfolio,” said Kraft Heinz North America President Pedro Navio, who pointed specifically to the company’s decision to remove artificial colors, preservatives, and flavors from Kraft Mac & Cheese in 2016.
As part of this process, Kraft Heinz, which is co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh, said it’s also working with licensees of its brands to encourage them to remove the artificial dyes as well.
During April’s announcement regarding the phase out of petroleum-based dyes, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said that food companies have been largely on board, citing the existing momentum of a states-led movement to ban many of the dyes. Virginia and California have been active in banning such dyes, and at least 17 other states are exploring measures to ban or restrict their use.
“They don’t want to deal with a patchwork of 30 different state plans,” Makary said during a press conference in April. “We’ve had wonderful meetings with the food industry. I’ve been amazed and they are eager to do this.”
The FDA has expressed concerns about the behavioral effects of synthetic dyes in children but emphasized that more research is needed. Though there was a movement to phase out artificial Red No. 3 dye under the Biden administration, the efforts now are largely motivated by the newly elected Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who has been outspoken in his criticism of synthetic dyes and colors, as well as ultraprocessed foods.
In the wake of the phase out, the FDA is fast-tracking the review of natural alternatives to synthetic food dyes including calcium phosphate, Galdieria extract blue, gardenia blue, and butterfly pea flower extract.
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