Food giant Nestle said it would remove all food, drug and cosmetic (FD&C) colors from its foods by mid-2026, handing a victory to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who has called for the dyes to be phased out or banned.
Nestle said in a June 25 press release that most of its foods are already free of these dyes, but they signaled their commitment to remove them completely.
“This effort is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to provide consumers with a range of high-quality, nutritious foods and beverages that reflect the diversity and choices that they want,” the press release read.
“Consumers enjoy a wide variety of foods and beverages as part of their daily diet. They want choice and value shaped by a dynamic – and highly personal – combination of nutrition, quality, price and convenience,” Nestlé USA CEO Marty Thompson said in a statement.
The move to eliminate the dyes, which some studies have indicated are harmful to the health of children and others, shows that companies are beginning to fall in line with the MAHA, or Make America Healthy Again, initiative.
In addition to Kennedy, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary is also calling for the dyes' removal. Makary and Kennedy said in April that they will be working together to get the food industry to remove them.
For now, they are eliciting cooperation from food companies rather than trying to impose mandates.
The focus is on “petroleum-based food dyes,” which include FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Blue No. 1, and FD&C Blue No. 2.
They would like to see these dyes removed from the American food supply by the end of 2026.
“For too long, some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent,” Kennedy said in a corresponding statement.
“These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development. That era is coming to an end. We’re restoring gold-standard science, applying common sense, and beginning to earn back the public’s trust. And we’re doing it by working with industry to get these toxic dyes out of the foods our families eat every day,” he added.
Kraft Heinz, Conagra Brands Inc., and General Mills are also taking steps to end the production of foods using the dyes in their foods, although it doesn't seem like they will all meet the hoped-for 2026 deadline.
The end of 2027 seems like a more realistic deadline for some of them, but they all plan to make significant progress during 2026.
These food dyes, while not explicitly banned in Europe and other parts of the world, are more heavily regulated and often require warning labels when they are used in food products.
