Two major US food producers to remove artificial dyes from products sold domestically

Two major food producers say that they will be pulling artificial dyes from their U S products starting in The shift comes nearly two months after U S wellbeing officers noted that they would urge foodmakers to phase out petroleum-based artificial colors Kraft Heinz stated Tuesday that it will be removing artificial dyes from its U S products beginning in and will no longer roll out new products with the dyes Hours later General Mills revealed that it plans to remove artificial dyes from all of its U S cereals and all foods served in K- schools by the summer of It is also looking to eliminate the dyes from its full U S retail portfolio by the end of Kraft Heinz announced Tuesday that almost of its U S products already don t contain food drug cosmetic colors but that the products that do still use the dyes will have them removed by the end of FD C colors are synthetic additives that are approved by the U S Food and Drug Administration for use in food drugs and cosmetics Kraft Heinz explained that a great number of of its U S products that still use the FD C colors are in its beverage and desserts categories including certain products sold under brands including Crystal Light Kool Aid Jell-O and Jet Puffed The company revealed that it will instead use natural colors for the products 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 Pedro Navio North America President at Kraft Heinz disclosed in a announcement Kraft Heinz stripped artificial colors flavors and preservatives from its macaroni and cheese in and explained it has never used artificial dyes in its ketchup The company plans to work with licensees of its brands to encourage them to remove the dyes General Mills reported that the changes it is making only impacts a small portion of its K- school business as almost all of its school items are already made without artificial dyes In addition of the company s U S foods that are sold retail are already made without dyes Across the long arc of our history General Mills has moved fleetly to meet evolving consumer requirements and reformulating our product portfolio to remove certified colors is yet another example Chairman and CEO Jeff Harmening explained in a report In April Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary reported at a news conference that the agency would take actions to eliminate the synthetic dyes by the end of largely by relying on voluntary efforts from the food industry Medical advocates have long called for the removal of artificial dyes from foods citing mixed studies indicating they can cause neurobehavioral problems including hyperactivity and attention issues in a few children The FDA has maintained that the approved dyes are safe and that the totality of scientific evidence shows that preponderance children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing color additives The FDA presently allows food color additives including eight synthetic dyes In January the agency reported that the dye known as Red used in candies cakes and a few medications would be banned in food by because it caused cancer in laboratory rats Artificial dyes are used widely in U S foods In Canada and in Europe where synthetic colors are required to carry warning labels manufacturers mostly use natural substitutes Several states including California and West Virginia have passed laws restricting the use of artificial colors in foods Several U S food companies are already reformulating their foods according to Sensient Colors one of the world s largest producers of food dyes and flavorings In place of synthetic dyes foodmakers can use natural hues made from beets algae and crushed insects and pigments from purple sweet potatoes radishes and red cabbage