Kraft Heinz - which makes Jell-O, Kool-Aid and ketchup - promises to eliminate all chemical food dyes within two years
The company stated that, while 90 percent of its U.S. products measured by sales are already free of artificial dyes, it will not use any Food, Drug & Cosmetic colors in any new products moving forward.
The change comes after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in April said that the Food and Drug Administration was working with the food industry to remove synthetic dyes from the U.S. food supply by the end of next year. The plan would axe Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, Blue No. 1, Blue No. 2, and Green No. 2, according to the FDA.
Kraft Heinz said that for the small number of their products that still contain artificial colors, they plan to remove the dyes where they are not critical, replace them with natural colors, or, in instances where the color isn't critical to the product, they would remove them entirely.
While many Kraft Heinz products will not be impacted, some that may see changes include Crystal Light, Heinz relish, Kool-Aid, Jell-O and Jet-Puffed, as they contain dyes such as Red No. 40 and Blue No. 1.
Kraft Heinz made changes to its beloved mac and cheese in 2016, removing artificial colors, preservatives and flavors from their recipe. In a press release announcing their latest initiative, the company also confirmed that its Heinz Tomato Ketchup has never contained artificial dyes, writing, 'the red color comes simply from the world's best tomatoes.'
Here are the products that will likely be impacted:
Most flavored Jell-O products in the U.S. contain artificial colors and are made with ingredients derived from petroleum, a natural chemical used to make gasoline that could have harmful impacts on our health, according to Healthline.
Food dyes included in the products, such as Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6, contain benzidine, a known carcinogen, or a substance that can cause cancer. According to the FDA, these dyes are presumed safe in small doses.
It was not immediately clear how much artificial dye is used in Jell-O products.
Unflavored Jello-O Gelatin, which is often used as a base for other recipes, does not contain any dyes.
The popular drink mix championed by the Kool-Aid Man utilizes artificial colors to achieve its well-known bright red, blue, or orange color.
Similar to many other drink mixes and sugary treats, Kool-Aid products utilize Red 40, Blue 1 and Yellow 5.
The drink mix, made to turn water into a sugary, sweet and low-calorie treat, contains several artificial colors in addition to artificial sweeteners, according to food labels.
Some iterations of the lemonade mixes contain artificial colors such as Red 40, Yellow 5 and Blue 1, to provide its signature bright color.
While Heinz's beloved tomato ketchup contains no artificial colors, the same cannot be said for all of the brand's condiments.
Heinz Sweet Relish, a staple at any barbecue, contains Yellow 5 and Blue 1.
The colorful marshmallows are another beloved product that currently contains artificial colors, according to its nutrition label.
A bag of color-changing marshmallows by the brand for sale on Amazon contains Blue 1, Red 40, Red 3 and Yellow 6.
The popular water enhancer also contains artificial colors.
Some MiO products include Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40 and Blue 1.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Atlantic
36 minutes ago
- Atlantic
Bring on the ‘MAHA Boxes'
Millions of Americans might soon have mail from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The health secretary—who fiercely opposes industrial, ultraprocessed foods—now wants to send people care packages full of farm-fresh alternatives. They will be called 'MAHA boxes.' For the most part, MAHA boxes remain a mystery. They are mentioned in a leaked draft of a much-touted report the Trump administration is set to release about improving children's health. Reportedly, the 18-page document—which promises studies on the health effects of electromagnetic radiation and changes in how the government regulates sunscreen, among many other things—includes this: 'MAHA Boxes: USDA will develop options to get whole, healthy food to SNAP participants.' In plain English, kids on food stamps might be sent veggies. The idea might seem like a throwaway line in a wish list of policies. (Kush Desai, a deputy White House press secretary, told me that the leaked report should be disregarded as 'speculative literature.') But MAHA boxes are also referenced in the budget request that President Donald Trump sent Congress in May. In that document, MAHA boxes full of 'commodities sourced from domestic farmers and given directly to American households' are proposed as an option for elderly Americans who already get free packages of shelf-stable goods from the government. When I asked the Department of Health and Human Services for more information about MAHA boxes, a spokesperson referred me back to the White House; the Department of Agriculture, which runs the food-stamp program, did not respond. MAHA boxes are likely to come in some form or another. Some of the packages might end up in the trash. Lots of people, and especially kids, do not enjoy eating carrots and kale. Just 10 percent of U.S. adults are estimated to hit their daily recommended portion of vegetables. But if done correctly, MAHA boxes could do some real good. For years, nutrition experts have been piloting similar programs. A recent study that provided diabetic people with healthy meal kits for a year found that their blood sugar improved, as did their overall diet quality. Another, which provided people with a delivery of fruits and vegetables for 16 weeks, showed that consumption of these products increased by nearly half a serving per day. It makes sense: If healthy food shows up at your door, you're probably going to eat it. 'Pretty much any American is going to benefit from a real healthy food box,' Dariush Mozaffarian, the director of the Tufts Food Is Medicine Institute, told me. Sending people healthy food could be a simple way to deal with one of the biggest reasons why poor Americans don't eat more fruits and veggies. The food-stamp program, otherwise known as SNAP, provides enrollees with a debit card they can use for food of their choosing—and a significant portion of SNAP dollars go to unhealthy foods. Research finds that has less to do with people having a sweet tooth than it does the price of a pound of brussel sprouts. Several studies have found that, for food-stamp recipients, price is one of the biggest barriers to eating healthy. Many states already have incentives built into SNAP to encourage consumption of fruits and vegetables. MAHA boxes would be an even more direct nudge. Most nutrition experts I spoke with for this story were much more supportive of MAHA boxes being sent to Americans in addition to food stamps than as a replacement for them. Exactly how the care packages would fit into other food-assistance programs isn't yet clear. Despite its shortcomings, SNAP is very effective at limiting hunger in America. Shipping heavy boxes of produce to the nation's poor is a much bigger undertaking than putting cash on a debit card. There's also the question of what exactly these MAHA boxes will include. If the 'whole, healthy food' in each care package includes raw milk and beef tallow —which Kennedy has promoted—that would only worsen American health. (His own eating habits are even more questionable: Kennedy once said that he ate so many tuna sandwiches that he developed mercury poisoning.) In May, after the Trump administration mentioned MAHA boxes in its budget request, a White House spokesperson told CBS News that the packages would be similar to food boxes that the first Trump administration sent during the pandemic in an effort to connect hungry families with food that would otherwise go to waste. According to a letter signed by Trump that was sent to recipients, each box was supposed to come with 'nutritious food from our farmers.' News reports at the time suggested that wasn't always the case. One recipient reportedly was shipped staples such as onions, milk, some fruit, and eggs, along with seven packages of hot dogs and two blocks of processed cheese. Another described their box as 'a box full of old food and dairy and hot dogs.' The COVID-era program did eventually deliver some 173 million food boxes. But it was still a failure, Gina Plata-Nino of the Food Research & Action Center, an organization that advocates for people on food-assistance programs, told me. The logistics were such a mess that they prompted a congressional investigation. Nonprofits, which helped distribute the packages, received 'rotten food and wet or collapsing boxes,' investigators were told. And the setup of the program was apparently so rushed that the government did not bother to check food distributors' professional references; investigators concluded that a 'company focused on wedding and event planning without significant food distribution experience' was awarded a $39 million contract to transport perishables to food banks. This time around, the White House doesn't have to navigate the urgency of a sudden pandemic in its planning. But questions remain about who exactly will be responsible for getting these boxes to millions of Americans around the country. The White House will likely have to partner with companies that have experience shipping perishable items to remote areas of the country. And although the White House budget says that MAHA boxes will replace a program that primarily provides canned foods to seniors through local food banks, it remains to be seen whether these organizations would have the resources to administer a program of this size. Perhaps the Trump administration has already thought through all these potential logistical hurdles. But trouble with executing grand plans to improve American health has been a consistent theme throughout Trump's tenures in office. In 2020, for example, he pledged to send seniors a $200 discount card to help offset rising drug costs. The cards never came amid questions about the legality of the initiative. Americans do need to change their eating habits if we hope to improve our collective problems of diet-related disease. Getting people excited about the joys of eating fruits and vegetables is laudable. So, too, are some of Kennedy's other ideas on food, such as getting ultraprocessed foods out of school cafeterias. But Kennedy still hasn't spelled out how he will deliver on these grand visions. The government hasn't even defined what an ultraprocessed food is, despite wanting to ban them. The ideas are good, but a good idea is only the first step.
Time Magazine
36 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Public Health Workers Criticize RFK Jr. After CDC Shooting
More than 750 public health workers sent a letter to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday, urging him to 'stop spreading inaccurate health information' and guarantee employees' safety, in the wake of a shooting at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier this month. The letter—signed by both named and anonymous current and former staffers at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), CDC, and National Institutes of Health who noted they signed the letter in their 'own personal capacities'—said the attack on the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta on Aug. 8 'was not random.' 'The attack came amid growing mistrust in public institutions, driven by politicized rhetoric that has turned public health professionals from trusted experts into targets of villainization—and now, violence,' public health workers said in the letter, which was also addressed to members of Congress. 'CDC is a public health leader in America's defense against health threats at home and abroad. When a federal health agency is under attack, America's health is under attack. When the federal workforce is not safe, America is not safe.' The public health workers went on to accuse Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic, of being 'complicit in dismantling America's public health infrastructure and endangering the nation's health by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information.' They cited several statements and actions that Kennedy has made in recent months, pointing to his claim that mRNA vaccines 'fail to protect effectively' against upper respiratory infections such as COVID-19—despite years of research showing that the shots are both safe and effective—and his announcement that HHS would be winding down mRNA vaccine development. They also condemned his decision to remove all the experts from a critical vaccine advisory committee. And they said some of Kennedy's past comments—such as claiming that there is a 'cesspool of corruption at CDC'—were 'sowing public mistrust' in the health agency. The public health workers expressed their wish to honor police officer David Rose, who was killed while responding to the attack on the CDC headquarters in August. HHS said in a statement to TIME that Kennedy 'is standing firmly with CDC employees—both on the ground and across every center—ensuring their safety and well-being remain a top priority.' The agency added that, after the shooting earlier this month, Kennedy traveled to Atlanta and called the CDC 'a shining star' among the world's health agencies. 'For the first time in its 70-year history, the mission of HHS is truly resonating with the American people—driven by President Trump and Secretary Kennedy's bold commitment to Make America Healthy Again,' HHS said. 'Any attempt to conflate widely supported public health reforms with the violence of a suicidal mass shooter is an attempt to politicize a tragedy.' Law enforcement officials said they found evidence that the suspect in the August shooting, who they identified as Patrick Joseph White of Georgia, blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for his health ailments. White was found dead at the scene, and authorities later said that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. CDC Director Susan Monarez noted the dangers posed by misinformation in a staff meeting in the wake of the attack. 'We know that misinformation can be dangerous,' she said, according to NBC News. 'Not only to health, but to those that trust us and those we want to trust. We need to rebuild the trust together.' The day after the shooting, Kennedy expressed his condolences to Rose's family in a post on X. 'We know how shaken our public health colleagues feel today. No one should face violence while working to protect the health of others,' he said. 'We are actively supporting CDC staff on the ground and across the agency. Public health workers show up every day with purpose—even in moments of grief and uncertainty. We honor their service. We stand with them. And we remain united in our mission to protect and improve the health of every American.' Kennedy was one of President Donald Trump's most controversial Cabinet nominees, and faced heated questioning by Senators during his confirmation hearings. He has drawn outrage from the medical establishment in the past for spreading disinformation, including repeating the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism. In their letter, public health workers claimed Kennedy's 'dangerous and deceitful statements and actions have contributed to the harassment and violence experienced by CDC staff.' They implored him to take three steps by Sept. 2 to 'uphold his pledge to safeguard the health of the American public,' including asking him to 'stop spreading inaccurate health information,' particularly regarding vaccines, infectious disease transmission, and the country's public health institutions. They also urged him to affirm the scientific integrity of the CDC and guarantee the safety of HHS employees, such as through emergency procedures and alerts. 'The deliberate destruction of trust in America's public health workforce puts lives at risk,' they wrote in the letter. 'We urge you to act in the best interest of the American people—your friends, your families, and yourselves.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
FDA warning: Don't eat these potentially radioactive shrimp sold at Walmart
You might want to think twice about buying this brand of shrimp next time you're shopping at Walmart. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to consumers about eating, selling or serving select brands of Great Value frozen raw shrimp due to contamination with a radioactive isotope. U.S. Customs and Border Protection alerted the FDA about the radioactive isotope, Cesium-137, after it was found in shipping containers at four U.S. seaports, according to the FDA. Here's what you need to know about the products that are affected and whether a recall will be imminent. What contaminated shrimp is the FDA warning consumers about? The Frozen Raw Ez Peel Tail-On Farm-Raised White Vannamei Shrimp in 2-pound bags distributed by Indonesia's BMS Foods tested positive for the contamination. The FDA is recommending a recall on certain BMS shrimp products even if they did not test positive. While a recall hasn't been conducted yet, the FDA is working with distributors and retailers 'to recommend' a recall. The following products are affected: Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005540-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027 Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005538-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027 Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005539-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027 The products were sold in Walmart stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia, according to the FDA. What should people do if they have the contaminated raw shrimp? The FDA is advising people who might have raw, frozen shrimp in their freezers from Walmart that matches the descriptions to not cook or consume them. Instead, the agency is asking customers, distributors and retailers to throw the shrimp away. The FDA also says, 'If you suspect you have been exposed to elevated levels of cesium, talk to your healthcare provider.' Consuming food or water contaminated with Cs-137 in low doses over an extended period of time can create an elevated risk of cancer due to a breakdown in DNA in the body's living cells, according to the FDA. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Katherine Rodriguez can be reached at krodriguez@ Have a tip? Tell us at Solve the daily Crossword
