• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

US Moves To Ban 8 Synthetic Food Dyes And Switch To “Natural Alternatives”

April 23, 2025 by Deborah Bloomfield

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced plans to remove all petrochemical food dyes currently in use in the country. 

The six-stage roadmap starts by establishing a firm timeline for the transition, moving quickly on to beginning the process of banning two food dyes – Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B – “within the coming months”. 

These two have fairly limited uses. According to the National Institutes of Health PubChem database, Citrus Red No. 2 is currently only used to enhance the color of oranges, while Orange B is used in sausage casings. 

Six further dyes will then be targeted: 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. These the government wants to see out of the food supply by the end of 2026.

These are all derivatives of crude oil (petroleum) except for Blue No. 2, which is a synthetic version of the plant-based indigo dye that gives denim jeans their iconic color. 

The HHS and FDA proposals also include a plan to bring forward the removal of Red No. 3, also known as erythrosine. The FDA already instructed manufacturers stop using this dye in food, beverages, and ingested medicines, but previously they had until January 2027 or 2028 to comply, depending on the product. Now, the government is asking them to move more quickly.   

“Today, the FDA is asking food companies to substitute petrochemical dyes with natural ingredients for American children as they already do in Europe and Canada,” said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary in a statement. 

These natural alternatives include Galdieria extract blue, a blue pigment derived from extremophilic microalgae, and butterfly pea flower extract, another blue coloring from the Clitoria ternatea plant. These two are among a list of dyes the FDA now plans to fast-track through its review process. 

Food dyes have long been a hot-button issue. Last year, the state of California passed the California School Food Safety Act, which banned public schools from serving any food products containing six synthetic dyes – the same six listed in the government’s new proposals. 

One criticism that’s often leveled at food manufacturers in the US is that they continue to use some food dyes that have been banned in Europe. Different naming systems can make it tricky to tell exactly which chemicals are being referred to, but for example, Orange B, Citrus Red No. 2, and Green No. 3 are all not permitted in the EU. Parents and campaigners concerned about the possible health implications of these additives question why compounds that one jurisdiction has clearly deemed unnecessary – if not harmful – are still present in the US food supply. 

“For too long, some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Some have pushed back against this specific assertion when it’s been made in the past. In a 2017 article for McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, Dr Joe Schwarcz said, “The allegation that we are being fed petroleum disguised as food dye is blatantly absurd. Food dyes, while synthesized from compounds found in petroleum, are dramatically different in molecular structure from any petroleum component.”

Schwarcz went on to explain that these compounds have all been through rigorous safety testing, and that as testing has improved certain additives have in fact been removed from the food supply. 

That’s not to say, however, that there’s no substance to the fears around the potential health effects of some food dyes. One link that’s been persistently cited is that between food dyes and hyperactivity in kids. Many parents already pursue dye-free diets for their children, believing it to help with their behavior.

 A 2021 assessment of these risks was one of the driving forces behind the California ban. The report, from the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, said, “The scientific literature indicates that synthetic food dyes can impact neurobehavior in some children. Data from multiple evidence streams, including epidemiology, animal neurotoxicology, and mechanistic studies, support this finding.”

Since artificial dyes are often present in ultra-processed foods, some have suggested that it might be difficult to separate out any health effects that are coming specifically from the dyes themselves.

But broadly, many experts agree that if it is possible to remove these compounds, which are essentially only serving an aesthetic purpose, and switch to “natural” alternatives, then that would be generally preferable.

“Given the growing concerns of doctors and parents about the potential role of petroleum-based food dyes, we should not be taking risks and do everything possible to safeguard the health of our children,” Makary concluded. 

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. U.S. FTC meeting will scrutinize Big Tech’s small deals
  2. Traton’s MAN targets profit margin boost in e-truck overhaul -CEO
  3. New Monoclonal Antibody “Highly Effective” For Kids With Severe Eczema
  4. The Country That Has The Most Time Zones Will No Doubt Surprise You

Source Link: US Moves To Ban 8 Synthetic Food Dyes And Switch To “Natural Alternatives”

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • This Pill Is Actually A Tiny Printer That Repairs Internal Injuries Using Biocompatible Ink
  • “This Is Amazing”: Scientists Have Found Evidence Of A Long-Lost World Deep Within The Earth
  • From The Shiniest World To Lava And Eternal Darkness, These Are The Weirdest Known Planets
  • Do Sharks Have Bones?
  • The Zombie Awakens: A Volcano Is Showing “First Signs” Of Unrest After 700,000 Years Of Quiet
  • Two Of The World’s Biggest Earthquakes Seem To Be Synched Together
  • California Has A New State Snake, And It’s A 1.6-Meter-Long Giant
  • Experimental Nanoparticle “Super-Vaccines” Stop Breast, Pancreatic, And Skin Cancers In Their Tracks
  • New Nightmare Fuel Unlocked: Watch The First Known Capture Of A Shrew By A False Widow Spider
  • Peculiar Glow In The Milky Way Might Be Dark Matter Signature
  • “I Was Scared To Death”: Missouri’s Great Cobra Scare Of 1953 Was Eventually Solved After 35 Years
  • Two Spacecraft To Fly Through Comet 3I/ATLAS’s Ion Tail – Will They Be Able To Catch Something?
  • Pioneering Heavy Water Detection Suggests Earth’s Water Might Be Older Than The Sun
  • PhD Students’ Groundbreaking New Technique Rescues JWST’s Highest Resolution Data
  • Popcorn-Like Parasites And Weird Worms Among 14 New Species Discovered In The World’s Oceans
  • Poem From 1181 CE Cairo Appears To Reference A Rare Galactic Supernova
  • With “Iridescent Live Colors”, Newly Discovered Beautiful Dwarfgoby Lives Up To Its Name (Mostly)
  • “Anti-Tail” And Odd 594-Kilometer Feature Found On Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS By Keck Observatory
  • Why Do We Call It A “Hamburger” When It Doesn’t Contain Ham?
  • What Aristotle Got Wrong About The Octopus
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version