RFK JR. plans to withdraw 8 commonly used food dyes

During his first attempt to significantly change the food supply in the country, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health, will direct food producers to withdraw eight food dyes based on oil, which can be found in hundreds of thousands of staples of grocery stores, said the department on Monday.

The plan, which is to be described in detail at the event in Washington on Tuesday, aims at dyes used in cereals, sports drinks and many other food products. The Department of Health and Social Welfare did not present the regulatory path to enforcement, but he wants them to be introduced by the end of 2026.

Proponents of health have long criticized food dyes, citing a restricted Tests Combining them with hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral problems in children. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates about 80 percent of national food supply, forbade Red Dye No. 3 shortly before Mr. Trump took office after the research combined him with cancer in laboratory animals. This took place after the Act on California in 2023, which forbade the dye.

Eight dyes Mr. Kennedy is widely used in the United States, but products produced for European and Canadian markets – where companies are obliged to apply warning labels, if they add them – they already apply natural substitutes for colors. It is expected that the secretary will announce the approval of additional natural dyes at the Tuesday event.

Mr. Kennedy, a long master of removing some chemicals from food supply, made food dyes a problem as soon as he was chosen to manage the health department, indicating that the Canadian version of Froot Loops receives dazzling colors from berries and carrots instead of red No. 40, yellow No. 5 and blue No. 1.

During the March meeting in Washington, Mr. Kennedy warned the highest steering staff from Pepsico, WK Kellogg, General Mills and other enormous companies, which eliminating food dyes was the highest priority and that more changes will come.

Sarah Gallo, senior Vice President for Product Policy Consumer brands AssociationThe lobbying group for the food industry and drinks, previously warned that policy based on ideology, and not science, may undermine confidence in food safety and “cause consumers, especially those in sensitive people, loss of access to secure food with secure, dense nutrition.”