Synthetic Food Dyes Get Eliminated by Major Cereal Maker by End of 2026

If you happen to love cereal, while at the same time you happen to love your kids, then there's something that you should know. Recently, there have been some positive developments within the MAHA movement's effort to improve both the safety as well as the quality of American foods, including cereals. Specifically, Kellogg's just announced that by the end of this year, by the end of 2026, all of their cereal brands will be free from petroleum-based artificial food dyes, meaning brands like Fruit Loops and Applejacks will give up their unrealistically vibrant colors. But fear not, as apparently the parent company has found a way to substitute these petroleum-based food dyes that they've been using for years with food coloring from natural sources without affecting anything regarding taste, which kind of just raises the question, if it was really so easy, why did it take so long for them to do it? Why did they not do it sooner? And so let's go through the details together right after you smash those like and subscribe buttons so this video can be picked up by the algorithm and shared out with ever more people. Thank you so much for that. Now, to start with, in April of last year, in April of 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under the leadership of RRK Jr., they announced a national initiative to phase out six major synthetic food dyes by the end of These were the following, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, as well as Green 3. And to make this change possible, the FDA began to authorize quicker, more accelerated approvals for natural food dyes as alternatives. Basically, they began to fast-track natural replacements to those synthetic food dyes. That announcement, it quoted HHS Secretary RRK Jr. as saying the For too long, some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent. These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children's health and development. That era is coming to an end. We're restoring gold standard science, applying common sense, and beginning to earn back the public's trust. And we're doing it by working with industry to get these toxic dyes out of the foods our families eat every day. Then, a month later, in May of 2025, the Presidential Commission to Make America Healthy Again released the MAHA report. You can see it up on your screen. It was the commission's initial examination of the causes of childhood chronic disease. The report was essentially asking the question, what is making American children sick? And within that report, there was a section on certain food colorings found basically throughout the entire market. Quote, Certain food colorings, such as Red 40, which is present in widely consumed products, have been associated with behavioral issues in children, such as increased hyperactivity and symptoms consistent with ADHD. Additionally, preliminary evidence suggests a possible association between the consumption of food colorings and autism, although further long-term research is necessary to establish a definitive link. Then, a few more months later, in September of 2025, that commission released their Make Our Children Healthy Again strategy. That document was intended to basically turn the findings of the assessment into actual government policy, into an action plan and a real implementable roadmap. And in that roadmap, they included a section on food dyes as well. Quote, The FDA will continue to advance and implement policies to limit or prohibit the use of petroleum-based food dyes in all food products approved in the U.S. The USDA will apply the framework to food served through federal nutrition programs, especially the school lunch program. The USDA and HHS will work to develop research and policies to support domestic agriculture production of plants used as natural color sources. The FDA will continue to expedite its review and approval of color-additive petitions for colors from natural sources and explore ways to provide greater flexibility in connection with the use of no artificial color and other labeling claims. Now, at this point, you might be wondering, that's all good, but what is exactly wrong with these petroleum-based food dyes anyway? Well, a big chunk of the research that was used by the Maha Commission in determining that food dyes are likely harmful to kids came from California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. And in 2021, that office conducted an extensive analysis of seven synthetic food dyes, including the aforementioned red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1, blue 2, as well as green 3. And after studying the body of evidence on that particular subject, on the subject of those different food dyes, they found that synthetic food dyes were associated with adverse neurobehavioral outcomes in children. But it wasn't uniform. They found that children vary in their sensitivity to synthetic food dyes, meaning that some kids might be perfectly okay with it, they would have no problem, while for others, it was a serious issue that affected them greatly. This California commission concluded that the scientific literature indicated to them, to their analysis, that synthetic food dyes can impact neurobehavior in some children. All right, just to pause here for a super quick moment, if you've watched our program, Facts Matter, then you know that we focus on one thing, which is the facts, not speculation, not narratives, just what the data shows. And right now, the data globally is pointing in a direction people should really be paying attention to, which is the fact that global conflicts are fueling market uncertainty. That's why I believe in owning something real, something physical, something that the government can't just inflate away, which is physical gold and physical silver from today's sponsor, which is American Hartford Gold, the company that I trust and who I've been personally buying from for many years now. These are tangible assets. They're not tied to policy decisions or shifting narratives. 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However, with that announcement by the HHS that they were seeking to have all synthetic food dyes removed, the FDA began to work with food manufacturers, as well as retailers and supermarket chains, on voluntary commitments to eliminate them. Not forced commitments yet, but voluntary commitments. Essentially, they were using public opinion on this matter as a carrot. However, there was also the state-level stick, which came in the form of Texas's attorney general. In April of 2025, you had Mr. Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, launch his own investigation into This came after Kellogg's claimed that they were going to remove their petroleum-based food colorings in the U.S. market, but allegedly they did not do so. And so Mr. Paxton's office, they claimed that Kellogg's was removing their toxic ingredients in the Canada and European markets while continuing to put different types of blue, red, and yellow dyes in the U.S. market-based cereals. Three months after that, though, in July of 2025, Kellogg's announced a commitment to remove all synthetic dyes from cereals by the end of 2027. At that time, Kellogg's said that about 85% of its cereal sales were already free of most of these food dye chemicals anyway. But then the next month, in August of 2025, they made it official. Ken Paxton, the Texas AG, and Kellogg's, they signed an assurance of voluntary compliance, which legally committed Kellogg's to remove artificial food dyes from all of their cereals by the end of 2027, which was a significant move, you could say, because while other companies have verbally committed, publicly verbally committed to removing food dyes, Kellogg's was the first to officially sign a legally binding agreement confirming that they will remove these food colorings. Here was Ken Paxton, the Texas AG, on this matter. Quote, the signed assurance of voluntary compliance demonstrates that Kellogg's is committed to keeping this pledge, and I commend the company for doing the right thing. And so you jump ahead one year, and Kellogg's just announced that they're a full year ahead of schedule. On August the 6th, the company put out a press release, you can see it up on your screen, with their updated timeline. And this is what they wrote, quote, Kellogg's today announced an accelerated timeline to eliminate all artificial colors and the preservative BHT across its full portfolio of cereals and cereal packaging. Production of cereals with the new recipes, including Kellogg's Fruit Loops and Kellogg's Apple Jacks, will begin later this year, with food shipping to retailers before year end. The release then included some pictures of what the new boxes will look like, complete with a small text box on the box indicating that they contain no artificial colors, but they have the same great taste. It also included a video of Mr. Doug Vandervelde, Kellogg's chief growth officer, about where they're going to be getting these new coloring additives from. The new colors are all derived from natural sources, fruit and vegetable-based juices and other plant-based ingredients. And this really does appear to be a step in the right direction, or at least a step in a direction of making the American diet healthier without sacrificing taste. And to that end, that Kellogg's executive that was in that video, he was quoted in the release as saying the following, quote, we conducted extensive consumer testing to make sure these recipes deliver the great taste consumers want while maintaining the original rainbow of colors, red, orange, yellow, green, purple, and blue that fans of Froot Loops and other colorful cereals have come to love. It wasn't easy, but we identified natural solutions for every color and we're confident families will love the updated recipes and simplified ingredients without compromising on quality or taste. And to that end, and apparently completely anecdotally, Yahoo News ran a blind taste test last year comparing three different varieties of Froot Loops to see if these dyes make any difference. They were able to use some Canadian Froot Loops which have the natural dyes versus the U.S. ones, and here's what they found. Without artificial dyes, Froot Loops lose their rainbow. But does that change the flavor? We blind taste tested three cereals to find out. First up, Aldi's Froot Rounds, free of artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and corn syrup. Oh, the like aftertaste is kind of off, but so good. For some reason it felt more wholesome. It felt more like whole grain. It feels like more closer to what I'm remembering from childhood. Next, Canada's Froot Loops, nearly identical to the U.S. minus the dyes. Way more crunch, way sweeter. This has to be an American one. This is really good. This has to be like traditional Froot Loops, like for sure. What the heck? Tastes like gushers. Last, the classic U.S. formulation. I feel like this is not as sweet as I would expect it to be. It's very nostalgic, reminds me of childhood. Fruity. Yeah, I feel like this one's the alternative brand. Only one person got it right. The rest, no clear favorite. Although that video just begs the obvious question of why didn't Kellogg's just switch to the Canadian blend of natural food dyes immediately? Well, it turns out that natural colors are considerably more difficult to work with. They can be less stable and more expensive, and some can even introduce either some kind of a flavor or aroma that manufacturers don't actually want in the finished product, like in the box of the cereal. And it turns out that Kellogg's in the U.S., they continue to use synthetic colors largely because there just wasn't enough regulatory and or commercial pressure to justify changing a formulation that worked extremely well, was cheap, stable, and was selling like hotcakes on the supermarket store shelves. That's probably why it took a little bit of cajoling from the Texas AG to get the ball rolling. And Kellogg's isn't the only company making good in their commitments, though. The FDA actually has a tracker on their website, you can see it up on your screen, showing the status of all different companies as of June, which is a fairly long list. It includes In-N-Out burger milkshakes, all Nestle products, Cheetos and Doritos, Welch's fruit snacks, all cereals that are sold in Target stores, Tyson, Jimmy Dean, and Hillshore Farm products, among many others. If you actually want to check out the full FDA page listing out all the companies that have made the switch, you can find that alongside my other research links for today's episode down in the description box below, which as I should mention is right below those like and subscribe buttons, both of which I'm sure you've already smashed. But if not, here is your opportunity, please smash them so this video can reach ever more people via the algorithm. And then until next time, I'm your host Roman from The Epoch Times, stay informed, and most importantly, stay free.