Kraft Heinz to eliminate artificial colors amid Kennedy, Health Department push
Why it matters: The food industry has been under pressure from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ditch artificial dyes.
Zoom in: Kraft Heinz — one of the largest food and beverage companies in North America — said it will remove food, drug and cosmetic (FD&C) colors from its products before the end of 2027.
It also committed to not launch any new products with FD&C colors effective immediately.
The company said nearly 90% of its U.S. products are already free of the synthetic dyes, when measured by sales.
The company already removed artificial colors from Kraft Mac & Cheese in 2016, while it said its Heinz Tomato Ketchup "has never had artificial dyes."
How it works: Kraft Heinz said it plans on "replacing FD&C colors with natural colors" or "reinventing new colors and shades where matching natural replacements are not available."
What they're saying: "The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors, and we've been on a journey to reduce our use of FD&C colors across the remainder of our portfolio," Kraft Heinz North America president Pedro Navio said in a statement.
Context: In April, Kennedy announced that the Food and Drug Administration was working with the food industry to eliminate synthetic dyes from the American food supply over the next two years.
"The industry has voluntarily agreed" to do so, Kennedy said at the time.
But none of the industry's largest food companies — including Mars, General Mills, Kraft Heinz and PepsiCo — confirmed in April that they had signed on.
The big picture: Advocates of a federal ban say it's time for the nation to recognize that food dyes are harmful.
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