By Jonel Aleccia and Matthew Perrone, Associated Press
Washington (AP) – US health officials said they planned to eliminate eight artificial oil -based colors from the country’s food supply, triggering a overhang of dozens of brilliant shades on the American stores of stores.
The details of the plan should be announced Tuesday afternoon by the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration Marty Makary, who advocated the change in the agenda “Make America Healthy Again” of Kennedy.
Officials should explain a regulatory path to eliminate colored additives, a process that generally requires public opinion and a review of agencies. It would be a radical change for American food producers, who would likely replace dyes with natural substitutes.
Health defenders have long called for the elimination of artificial food colors, citing mixed studies indicating that they can cause neurobehavioral problems, including problems of hyperactivity and attention, in some children. The FDA argued that approved dyes are safe and that “all scientific evidence shows that most children have no side effects when consuming foods containing colored additives”.
The FDA currently authorizes 36 food additives, including eight synthetic dyes. In January, the agency announced that the coloring known as Red 3 – used in candies, cakes and certain drugs – would be prohibited by 2028 because it caused cancer in laboratory rats.
The colors that Kennedy wants to withdraw are widely used in American foods. In Canada and Europe – where artificial colors are necessary to transport warning labels – manufacturers use natural substitutes.
Some American states, such as California and Virginia-Western, have recently adopted laws which prohibit artificial colors and other additives from school meals, and in some cases, broader food supply.
Aleccia reported in California.
The Department of Health and Sciences of the Associated Press receives the support of the scientific and educational group of the media from the medical institute Howard Hughes and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
