In his first attempt to significantly change the nation’s food supply, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, will direct food manufacturers to phase out eight petroleum-based food dyes that are found in hundreds of thousands of grocery-store staples, the department said Monday.

The plan, expected to be described in detail at an event in Washington on Tuesday, targets dyes used in cereals, sports drinks and a host of other foods. The Department of Health and Human Services has not outlined a regulatory path to enforce the changes, but wants them to be made by the end of 2026.

Health Advocates Long Criticized Food Dyes

Health advocates have long criticized food dyes, citing a limited body of research connecting them to hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral problems in children. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates about 80% of the nation’s food supply, banned Red Dye No. 3 shortly before President Donald Trump took office, after studies connected it to cancer in laboratory animals. That followed a 2023 California law that banned the dye.

The eight dyes Kennedy is targeting are widely used within the United States, but products made for the European and Canadian markets — where companies are required to use warning labels if they add them — already use natural color substitutes. The secretary is expected to announce the approval of additional natural dyes at Tuesday’s event.

Kennedy, long a champion of removing certain chemicals from the food supply, made food dyes an issue as soon as he was selected to head the health department, pointing out that the Canadian version of Froot Loops gets its bright colors from blueberries and carrots instead of Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5 and Blue No. 1.

In a March meeting in Washington, Kennedy warned top executives from PepsiCo, W.K. Kellogg, General Mills and other large companies that eliminating food dyes was a top priority and that more changes would be coming.

Sarah Gallo, a senior vice president of product policy for the Consumer Brands Association, a lobbying group for the food and beverage industry, has previously cautioned that policies based on ideology and not science could undermine trust in food safety and “cause consumers, particularly those in vulnerable populations, to lose access to safe, nutrient-dense foods.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Kim Severson/Pete Kiehart
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