General Mills and Kraft Heinz to Remove Synthetic Dyes From Portfolios
General Mills and Kraft Heinz are removing synthetic, additive food colors previously certified by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
The moves come after Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would like to phase out synthetic dyes used to enhance color in foods such as candy and cereals.
"We are going to get rid of the dyes and then one by one, we're going to get rid of every ingredient and additive in food that we can legally address," said Kennedy Jr. during a press conference in April.
The FDA banned red dye No. 3 in food and ingested drugs at the beginning of the year. In April, the agency said it would work with the industry to phase out petroleum-based synthetic dyes from the U.S. food supply over the next few years.
General Mills
General Mills said it plans to remove all certified colors from its U.S. cereals, as well as any in foods served in K-12 schools by next summer, though the company said most of its school-offered meals are already produced without them. By 2027, the company plans to remove them entirely from the U.S. retail portfolio, of which 85% is currently made without certified colors.
Jeff Harmening, chairman and CEO of General Mills, said in a statement that the company will move quickly to meet evolving consumer needs, which includes reformulating its product portfolio to remove certified colors.
Kraft Heinz
Kraft Heinz is also revising its portfolio, removing synthetic colors from its U.S. portfolio by the end of 2027. Additionally, it will not be launching any new products with the additive colors.
The company reported that nearly 90% of its U.S. products are already free of the colors, but it will be using a three-pronged approach to expand the effort.
This includes:
- Removing colors where it is not critical to the consumer experience
- Replacing the previously certified colors with natural colors
- Reinventing new colors and shades where matching natural replacements are not available
“The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors, and we’ve been on a journey to reduce our use of FD&C colors across the remainder of our portfolio,” said Pedro Navio, North America president at Kraft Heinz, in a statement.
Navio added that the company removed any artificial colors, preservatives and flavors from its Kraft Mac & Cheese products in 2016.
The company will also be encouraging any companies licensing its brands to remove the synthetic colors.
