The FDA announces a food dyeing ban

The fluorescent red of Hot Flamin ‘cheetos, the brilliant Sarcelle of Mountain Dew Baja Blast and the colored rainbow of Skittles could soon be attenuated.

Food and Drug Administration removes the use of oil -based synthetic dyes by the end of next year, the agency announced on Tuesday.

“For 50 years, American children have lived more and more in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals,” said FDA commissioner Marty Makary at a press conference.

Food and drinks companies use additives like Red Dye 40 to give cereals, crisps, sports drinks and other brilliant shades that attract buyers. But the backlash against artificial dyes has been preparing in the United States for more than a decade.

Changes will affect a series of food giants, including Pepsico,, General MillsMarch and WK Kellogg. The industry has argued that affirmations on the dangers of artificial dyes contain evidence that would support any ban.

The FDA takes several measures, in particular by establishing a “national standard” and a calendar for the food industry to pass from oil -based food colors to natural alternatives, according to Makary. The Agency also launches a process to revoke the authorization of synthetic food colors, including those in production, in the coming weeks.

He added that the FDA also eliminates the six synthetic dyes remaining on the American food supply market by the end of the year, specifically Red Dye 40, Yellow Dye 5, Yellow Dye 6, Blue Dye 1, Blue Dye 2 and Green Dye 2.

“For companies that are currently using the oil-based red dye, try watermelon juice or beet juice. For companies currently combining oil-based oil and red dyes, try carrot juice,” he said.

Makary added that the agency plans to authorize four additional color additives using natural ingredients in the coming weeks, while accelerating the examination and approval of other natural ingredient colors.

Makary cited a Lancet study which concluded that the artificial colors in the food “cause increased hyperactivity”.

“The F in the FDA means food,” he said. “Now, there is no ingredient that explains the chronic illness epidemic of the child. And let’s be honest, withdrawing oil -based food dyes from food supply is not a miracle solution that will instantly make American children healthy, but it is an important step.”

Last month, the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., told senior leaders in food that the elimination of artificial dyes of the food system is an urgent priority of the Trump administration. Reunion participants included the CEOs of Pepsico North America, Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Tyson Foods, WK Kellogg, JM Smucker and the Consumer Brands Association, the Industry Trade Group.

Kennedy used Kellogg Froot loops as its main example during the balustrade against artificial dyes.

Although it is not clear exactly how the removal of dyes could affect businesses from companies, it will be a major effort to revise revenue – and new looks could affect the way consumers perceive products.

Makary said that the peak of oil -based food colors will not increase food prices, pointing to other countries that have made similar movements. However, synthetic dyes are generally more profitable than natural alternatives, which often require larger quantities to reach vibrant colors and can transport higher production costs, in certain reports and a manufacturer of natural ingredients.

Previously, the decline in consumer defenders led some of the companies to modify their formulas and lower artificial dyes without any government intervention. In 2015, Kraft Heinz Changed the recipe for brand cheese macaroni to use the same natural colors that are found in the European version of the product.

But the changes do not always stick. In 2017, General Mills reversed the course, putting back its Trix cereals with colors artificially on the shelves. Naturally shaded cereals, which used turmeric, radishes and purple carrots, were not as dynamic and customers rejected the new version.

Kennedy is the head of an agency of $ 1.7 billion of dollars that oversees food products and tobacco, vaccines and other drugs, scientific research, public health infrastructure and the government funded by the government. After only two months of work, he radically changed the country’s federal health agencies.

In March, he announced his intention to reduce 10,000 full -time employees in different departments and consolidate the divisions. It has reduced the crucial parts of HHS, including offices that manage HIV prevention efforts and strive to eliminate disparities in health care. The Food and Drug Administration also suspends a quality control program to test fluid milk and other dairy products due to the reduction in the capacity of its food security and nutrition division, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The so-called the Kennedy So-Called Make Healthy Again platform supports a corrupt alliance of drug and food companies and the federal health agencies that regulate them make Americans less healthy. He undertook to put an end to the epidemic of chronic diseases in children and adults, and expressed the manufacture of nutritious foods, rather than drugs, at the heart of this objective.

In January, before President Donald Trump or Kennedy took office, the Food and Drug Administration revoked his authorization of a type of red dietary dye called red n ° 3. The coloring is known to cause cancer in laboratory animals, but manufacturers of food products have been authorized to use it for years because scientists did not think of having increased the level of man in terms of level consumes.

At least one company benefits from the prohibition of artificial dyes: McCormickThis helps companies modify their flavors and formulas.

“Now, the reformulation activity has always been part of the work that we do with our customers, and we have been doing it for some time, but we have seen a work in the reformulation activity,” said Brendan Foley, CEO of McCormick, told analysts’ cup on the company’s gains at the end of March, adding that companies are looking to cut analysts at the same time of their products.