Andrew (Drew) Rhoades , 2025-05-09 18:19:00
Key takeaways:
- The FDA approved natural color additives for use in foods like candy, cereal and fruit drinks.
- Some of the additives have already been approved in the European Union.
The FDA announced it has approved the use of two color additives from natural sources in over a dozen foods and beverages while expanding the approval of another.
According to a press release, these food colors include:
The FDA approved natural color additives for use in foods like candy, cereal and fruit drinks. Image: Adobe Stock
- galdieria extract blue, approved for use in foods like fruit drinks and smoothies, gums, yogurt drinks, hard candy, vegetable juices and ice cream;
- butterfly pea flower extract, which was already approved for use in foods like sports drinks, fruit drinks, dairy drinks and alcoholic beverages and is now approved for ready-to-eat cereals, crackers, snack mixes and several types of chips; and
- calcium phosphate, approved for use in ready-to-eat chicken products, coated candies and doughnut sugar.
“Today we take a major step to Make America Healthy Again,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a press release. “For too long, our food system has relied on synthetic, petroleum-based dyes that offer no nutritional value and pose unnecessary health risks. We’re removing these dyes and approving safe, natural alternatives — to protect families and support healthier choices.”
The approvals come after HHS announced its intent to phase out nine petroleum-based synthetic dyes by the end of 2026 while transitioning to new natural replacements.
“FDA staff have been moving quickly to expedite the publication of these decisions, underscoring our serious intent to transition away from petroleum-based dyes in the food supply and provide new colors from natural sources,” FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH, said in the release.
Several major food companies, including PepsiCo Inc. and Tyson Foods, have since said they will be eliminating artificial dyes from their products.
HHS pointed to multiple adverse health outcomes, like behavioral issues and obesity, as being a major driver behind their goal to phase out the artificial dyes, though experts told Healio that evidence on the links between the dyes and these health effects is mixed.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest told Healio that galdieria extract blue is currently under review with the European Food Safety Authority “and calcium phosphate is approved as a food additive in the EU.”
