J.M. Smucker plans to remove artificial colors from its jams and other products by the end of 2027
J.M. Smucker Co. plans to remove artificial colors from its products by the end of 2027.
Orrville, Ohio–based Smucker said Thursday it will also remove synthetic dyes from foods sold to K–12 schools by the 2026–2027 school year. Smucker said the majority of its products – including its Uncrustables sandwiches – are already free of synthetic dyes. But some products still have them, including sugar-free jams and ice cream toppings. Smucker said some products from Hostess, which it acquired in 2023, also contain artificial colors. Twinkies are made with Red 40 and Yellow 5, for example, while Sno Balls snack cakes are made with Red 40 Lake, a dye combined with aluminum to keep it from dissolving in water.
Smucker joins a growing number of big food companies that have announced plans to eliminate artificial dyes. Earlier this week, Nestle and Conagra Brands – the parent company of Duncan Hines – both said they would phase out synthetic dyes. Kraft Heinz and General Mills made similar pledges last week.
The federal government has stepped up its scrutiny of artificial colors in recent months. In January, days before President Donald Trump took office, the US regulators banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation's food supply nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk. In April, Trump's Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency would take steps to eliminate synthetic dyes by the end of 2026, largely by relying on voluntary efforts from the food industry.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
19 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Trump Says he's Terminating Trade Talks with Canada over Tax on Tech Firms
President Donald Trump said Friday that he's suspending trade talks with Canada over its plans to continue with its tax on technology firms, which he called 'a direct and blatant attack on our country.' Trump, in a post on his social media network, said Canada had just informed the US that it was sticking to its plan to impose the digital services tax, which applies to Canadian and foreign businesses that engage with online users in Canada. The tax is set to go into effect Monday. 'Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately. We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period,' Trump said in his post. Trump's announcement was the latest swerve in the trade war he's launched since taking office for a second term in January. Progress with Canada has been a roller coaster, starting with the US president poking at the nation's northern neighbor and repeatedly suggesting it would be absorbed as a US state. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday that his country would 'continue to conduct these complex negotiations in the best interests of Canadians. It's a negotiation.' Trump later said he expects that Canada will remove the tax, The Associated Press reported. 'Economically we have such power over Canada. We'd rather not use it,' Trump said in the Oval Office. "It's not going to work out well for Canada. They were foolish to do it.' When asked if Canada could do anything to restart talks, he suggested Canada could remove the tax, predicted it will but said, 'It doesn't matter to me.' Carney visited Trump in May at the White House, where he was polite but firm. Trump last week traveled to Canada for the G7 summit in Alberta, where Carney said that Canada and the US had set a 30-day deadline for trade talks. The digital services tax will hit companies including Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb with a 3% levy on revenue from Canadian users. It will apply retroactively, leaving US companies with a $2 billion US bill due at the end of the month. 'We appreciate the Administration's decisive response to Canada's discriminatory tax on U.S. digital exports,' Matt Schruers, chief executive of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, said in a statement. Canada and the US have been discussing easing a series of steep tariffs Trump imposed on goods from America's neighbor. The Republican president earlier told reporters that the US was soon preparing to send letters to different countries, informing them of the new tariff rate his administration would impose on them. Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as 25% tariffs on autos. He is also charging a 10% tax on imports from most countries, though he could raise rates on July 9, after the 90-day negotiating period he set would expire. Canada and Mexico face separate tariffs of as much as 25% that Trump put into place under the auspices of stopping fentanyl smuggling, though some products are still protected under the 2020 US-Mexico-Canada Agreement signed during Trump's first term. Addressing reporters after a private meeting with Republican senators Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to comment on news that Trump had ended trade talks with Canada. 'I was in the meeting,' Bessent said before moving on to the next question. About 60% of US crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of US electricity imports as well. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager to obtain. About 80% of Canada's exports go to the US. Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said it is a domestic tax issue, but it has been a source of tensions between Canada and the United States for a while because it targets US tech giants. 'The Digital Services Tax Act was signed into law a year ago so the advent of this new tax has been known for a long time,' Beland said. "Yet, President Trump waited just before its implementation to create drama over it in the context of ongoing and highly uncertain trade negotiations between the two countries.'
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
As US inflation edges up, Trump renews criticism of Fed chief, calling him ‘stubborn'
WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure logged a mild uptick Friday while spending weakened, triggering another tirade by President Donald Trump against the central bank chair for not cutting interest rates sooner. 'We have a guy that's just a stubborn mule and a stupid person,' Trump told an event at the White House, referring to Fed Chair Jerome Powell. 'He's making a mistake.' With Powell's term as Fed chief coming to an end next year, Trump hinted at his choice of successor: 'I'm going to put somebody that wants to cut rates.' The president's remarks came after government data showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index climbing 2.3 percent last month from a year ago in May. This was in line with analyst expectations and a slight acceleration from April's 2.2 percent increase, but still a relatively mild uptick. Excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, the PCE price index was up 2.7 percent, rising from April's 2.6 percent uptick, the Commerce Department's report showed. But consumer spending declined, after Trump's fresh tariffs in April dragged on consumer sentiment. PCE dropped by 0.1 percent from the preceding month, reversing an earlier rise. While Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on most US trading partners since returning to the White House in January — alongside higher rates on imports of steel, aluminum and autos — these have had a muted effect so far on inflation. This is in part because he held off or postponed some of his harshest salvos, while businesses are still running through inventory they stockpiled in anticipation of the levies. But central bank officials have not rushed to slash interest rates, saying they can afford to wait and learn more about the impact of Trump's recent duties. They expect to learn more about the tariffs' effects over the summer. 'The experience of the limited range of tariffs introduced in 2018 suggests that pass-through to consumer prices is intense three-to-six months after their implementation,' warned economists Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen of Pantheon Macroeconomics in a note. They flagged weakness in consumer spending, in part due to a pullback in autos after buyers rushed to get ahead of levies. And spending on services was tepid even after excluding volatile components, they said. 'There has also been a clear weakening in discretionary services spending, notably in travel and hospitality,' said Michael Pearce, deputy chief US economist at Oxford Economics, in a note. This reflects 'the chilling effect of the plunge in consumer sentiment,' he added. Between April and May, the PCE price index was up 0.1 percent, the Commerce Department report showed. As a July deadline approaches for higher tariff rates to kick in on dozens of economies, all eyes are also on whether countries can reach lasting trade deals with Washington to ease the effects of tariffs. For now, despite the slowing in economic growth, Pearce said risks that inflation could increase will keep the Fed on hold with interest rates 'until much later in the year.'
Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
Tech firms warn ‘Scattered Spider' hacks are targeting aviation sector
WASHINGTON: Tech companies Google and Palo Alto Networks are sounding the alarm over the 'Scattered Spider' hacking group's interest in the aviation sector. In a statement posted on LinkedIn on Friday, Sam Rubin, an executive at Palo Alto's cybersecurity-focused Unit 42, said his company had 'observed Muddled Libra (also known as Scattered Spider) targeting the aviation industry.' In a similar statement, Charles Carmakal, an executive with Alphabet-owned Google's cybersecurity-focused Mandiant unit, said his company was 'aware of multiple incidents in the airline and transportation sector which resemble the operations of UNC3944 or Scattered Spider.' Neither executive identified which specific companies had been targeted, but Alaska Air Group-owned Hawaiian Airlines and Canada's WestJet have both recently reported being struck by unspecified cyber incidents. Neither company has gone into detail about the intrusions or commented on any potential links between the incidents and Scattered Spider. The loose-knit but aggressive hacking group, alleged to at least in part comprise youngsters operating in Western countries, has been blamed for some of the most disruptive hacks to hit the United States and Europe in recent memory. In 2023, hackers tied to the group broke into gaming companies MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, partially paralyzing casinos and knocking slot machines out of commission. Earlier this year, the group wreaked havoc at British retailers. More recent targets include the US insurance industry.
