(BBC News) The US will ban eight commonly used artificial food dyes in a bid to help Americans “know what’s in their food,” Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced on Tuesday.
Officials said two petroleum-based synthetic dyes would be phased out in the coming weeks, and others by the end of 2026.
Experts have linked the dyes — which are found in dozens of foods, including cereals, candy, snacks and beverages — to neurological problems in some children.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to authorize four new natural color additives in the coming weeks to help companies find alternatives quickly, the agency said.
“Americans don’t know what they’re eating,” Kennedy said at a news conference.
On the campaign trail alongside Donald Trump, Kennedy last year vowed to take on artificial food dyes as well as ultra-processed foods once confirmed to lead the top US health agency.
On Tuesday, the health secretary pledged to tackle other food additives, including “every ingredient, additive, to food in school that we can legally address.”
Most artificially coloured foods are made with synthetic petroleum-based chemicals, according to nutrition nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
Synthetic food dyes are found in dozens of popular foods including M&M’s, Gatorade, Kool-Aid and Skittles.
“For the last 50 years, American children have been increasingly living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals,” FDA commissioner Marty Makary said.
Makary said removing the food dyes was not a “silver bullet” but “one important step” to improving children’s health.
The FDA plans to revoke authorisation for food dyes Red No 2 and Orange B “within the coming months,” according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Six remaining synthetic dyes — 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 — will be removed from the food supply by the end of next year, HHS said.
