The Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Medicines Administration announced on Tuesday a series of measures to eliminate eight artificial food dyes and food supply in the United States food supply at the end of next year.
Speaking at a press conference, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said agencies will work with food companies to eliminate product dyes.
“I just want to urge you all, it is not the time to stop; it is time to redouble their efforts, because we have them in the race now, and we will win this battle,” Kennedy told the followers during the press conference. “And within four years, we will have most of these products outside the market, or you will know about them when you go to the grocery store.”
At the press conference, the FDA Commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary, said the agencies seek to revoke the authorization of two synthetic food coloring and work with the food industry to eliminate six remaining synthetic dyes used in cereals, ice cream, snacks, yogurts and more.
“Today, the FDA is taking measures to eliminate oil -based food dyes from the US food supply and medicines. During the last 50 years, American children have been living more and more in a toxic soup of synthetic chemical products,” he told reporters.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., observes during a press conference on April 7, 2025 at Salt Lake City.
Melissa Majchrzak/AP
Makary’s studies stated that they have found a similar one between oil -based synthetic dyes and health conditions, including attention deficit disorder/hyperactivity, obesity, diabetes, cancer and gastrointestinal problems.
“Why are we betting?” He said. “While the children in the United States are sick and suffering, 41% of children have at least a health condition, and one in five has medications. The answer is no more ozempic, more drugs for ADHD and more antidepressants. There is a role for those medications, but we have to consider the underlying root causes.”
The HHS and the FDA are asking the food industry to “establish a national standard and a timeline … to transfer it from dyes based on petrochemicals to natural alternatives,” according to a press release sent on Tuesday afternoon.
The administration of former President Joe Biden in January began the process to ban an artificial dye, Red No. 3, which must be eliminated from food in January 2027 and medicines by 2028 because it was shown that it causes cancer in rats. The FDA said Tuesday that it is asking food companies to accelerate the elimination of red. No. 3.
Federal officials are taking measures to obtain the authorization of two synthetic food dyes: Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B, in the coming months. In addition, the other six federal health agencies based on oil are looking to eliminate for next year are Green No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, Blue No. 1 and Blue No. 2.
The FDA is also taking measures to authorize four new natural color additives, authorities announced on Tuesday.
It is not yet clear what application mechanism, Kennedy will seek to implement the new changes.
The timeline to eliminate synthetic dyes occurs after Kennedy told the leaders of the food industry at a meeting last month that he wanted their companies to eliminate the artificial dyes of their products at the end of their four -year mandate, according to a memorandum that describes the meeting, which was obtained by ABC News.
Kennedy’s announcement on Tuesday accelerates that process, and alerts companies that Kennedy intends to fulfill their warning quickly.
From sweets to breakfast cereal and synthetic food dyes are in a wide range of products consumed by Americans. Studies suggest that their vibrant color makes food more attractive and could even increase appetite.
The effects on the health of dyes are not completely understood, but many other countries have prohibited additives directly or required for food packaging labels on health risks.
All dyes have the potential to cause allergic reactions for a small minority. Several dyes have been linked to hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children or it has been shown that they cause cancer in mice or rats, but none has shown that none causes cancer in humans.
The red and blue states have already taken matters in their own hands to eliminate artificial food dyes from certain foods. Both West Virginia and California have approved laws to ban a handful of food dyes from school lunches, with plans to extend the ban at a broader state level.
In Western Virginia, the prohibition of artificial dyes in school lunch will enter into force in August, so it is the first state in the country to implement such restrictions. In California, it will enter into force in 2028.
Other twenty -six states, from Iowa to Washington and from Texas to Vermont, are considering similar legislation around the prohibition of food dyes or other chemical additives in food, according to a list compiled by the environmental work group, a defense organization that focuses on chemicals and toxins.
The Environmental Health Dangers Evaluation Office within the California Environmental Protection Agency in 2021 concluded a two -year study in seven synthetic food dyes that found associations with certain neurochonductual results in some children.
The researchers also found that the current level of the FDA of “acceptable daily intake” for dyes can be too high to protect children from potential behavioral impact, according to the report.
