FDA and HHS plan to phase out petroleum-based synthetic dyes in US food supply

The FDA will announce a plan to remove artificial food dyes from the US food supply in a press conference later today, as part of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” program.

The US Secretary of Health and Human Services and US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary will lay out plans to take action on a broader set of petroleum-based synthetic dyes that are used to make food and beverages brightly colored.

RFK Jr. has been strongly indicating his intention to ban food additives in US food for some time.

This comes on the heels of the US government’s January ban of red dye No. 3 in food, beverages, and ingested drugs, following years of concerns over health. Red dye No. 3 has been used for decades in a wide range of food products, such as candy, cakes and cupcakes, cookies, frozen desserts, and frostings and icings.

But from January 15, 2027, it will no longer be allowed in US F&B. It has already been banned for food use in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. 

Broader bans?

The exact detail of potential bans or limitations will be made clear during Tuesday’s press conference, but industry is poised to hear what other food dyes may be impacted by limitations.

Center for Science in the Public Interest president Dr. Peter G. Lurie says: “We don’t need synthetic dyes in the food supply, and no one will be harmed by their absence. We will soon see how the government plans to proceed, but I expect that, after discovering that they could survive in the European market without some of these dyes, the industry will choose not to die on this hill.” 

Dr. Lurie also stresses that the FDA must now fulfill its commitment to closing the GRAS loophole, which lets food companies determine for themselves which additives are safe to use in food. 

“It must continue its efforts to fix the broken post-market system that allowed these food dyes to linger in our food supply long after we knew they were unsafe. But thanks to the brutal staff cuts to the FDA imposed by Secretary Kennedy and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, it will be harder now for FDA to police other food additives, inspect factories, or perform just about any function than it was four months ago.” 

In a statement sent to Food Ingredients First, last month when RFK Jr. was in talks with industry stakeholders, pushing for them to take a proactive approach to some artificial food additives, the National Confectionery Association said, “ Food safety is the number one priority for US confectionery companies, and we will continue to follow and comply with FDA’s guidance and safety standards.” 

“Our consumers and everyone in the food industry want and expect a strong FDA, and a consistent, science-based national regulatory framework.”

Some research links synthetic dyes in food to neurobehavioral problems in some children and even some cancers in rat test subjects. Other health risks include exacerbating symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in some children.