Faded Froot Loops and Dull Doritos: Is Big Food Losing the War on Dyes?
Featuring Julie Creswell
Produced by Rikki NovetskyShannon M. LinRob Szypko and Caitlin O'Keefe
Edited by Liz O. BaylenPatricia Willens and Lisa Chow
Original music by Marion LozanoDan Powell and Diane Wong
Engineered by Chris Wood
The summer, some of the biggest food companies in America have announced that they plan to stop using artificial food dyes. It's a move that would transform the look of some of the best known brands.
Julie Creswell, who covers the food industry, explains how the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., got the food industry to commit to a change that it has resisted for years — and that could be bad for business.
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Julie Creswell, a business reporter covering the food industry for The New York Times.
How might Jell-O look and taste when artificial dyes are removed?
Mr. Kennedy's battle against food dyes hit a roadblock: M&M's.
There are a lot of ways to listen to 'The Daily.' Here's how.
We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode's publication. You can find them at the top of the page.
Fact-checking by Susan Lee.
The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Michael Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, Nina Feldman, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Sophia Lanman, Shannon M. Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez, Brendan Klinkenberg, Chris Haxel, Maria Byrne, Anna Foley and Caitlin O'Keefe.
Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson, Nina Lassam, Nick Pitman and Kathleen O'Brien.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Knit Secures $16.1M Series A to Redefine Enterprise Insights with Researcher-Driven AI
With $30M+ in total funding, Knit delivers human and AI-powered insights to leading enterprises including Amazon, NASCAR, Mars Wrigley, and Overtime to make smarter, faster data-powered decisions AUSTIN, Texas, July 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Knit, the AI-powered platform transforming how enterprises conduct consumer research, today announced it has raised $16.1 million in Series A funding. The round was led by GFT Ventures and Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures with continued participation from Silicon Road Ventures, Osage Ventures, Rise of the Rest, and others. Notable angel investors such as David Kirk, former Chief Scientist at NVIDIA, and Gokul Rajaram, founding partner of Marathon Management, also participated in this round. Knit's platform enables users to run custom research and receive "report-ready" insights within days that are driven by generative AI and human expertise. Traditional research solutions like market research agencies often provide industry insight but can be slow and costly. Meanwhile, new AI tools promise speed and affordability, but frequently lack depth and substance. Knit addresses these challenges by elevating, not replacing, the researcher to deliver high-quality insights at the pace modern teams demand. "Today's enterprise researchers are being asked to do more with less," said Aneesh Dhawan, Co-Founder and CEO of Knit. "Knit empowers them to deliver fast, cost-efficient insights without sacrificing quality or control. This funding accelerates our vision for a human + AI platform that makes research accessible, contextual, and decision-ready." Each research project on Knit is powered by a unique combination of human researcher expertise and AI. Knit's team of expert researchers works closely with customers to capture the nuance and context behind their research approach, ensuring that every study reflects both their specific goals and unique research style. That context is then embedded into the platform, where AI delivers fast, structured, and tailored outputs for use cases such as rapid concept testing or strategic customer segmentation. This human and AI approach transforms research from a bottleneck into a strategic advantage, helping teams run more studies, uncover sharper insights, and make a bigger impact, faster. "Enterprise research is a massive market that's ripe for AI disruption," said Jeff Herbst, Founding Managing Partner at GFT Ventures. "Knit has built technology that truly meets the needs of modern research teams. Their traction with some of the world's largest and most forward-thinking brands, standout team, and clear vision for where this market is headed position them to lead the new era of enterprise insights." The raise follows a year of strong momentum for Knit, marked by 5X year-over-year growth and widespread adoption across Fortune 500 brands. Knit has brought on more than 60 enterprise brands such as Amazon, NASCAR, Overtime, and Mars Wrigley to its platform to make data-driven decisions with real-time, researcher-driven insights. Moreover, investments from prominent VC firms like Sound Ventures, which have invested in OpenAI and Anthropic, have trusted Knit to become a leader in the researcher market for global brands. "Knit's growth reflects its ability to redefine how brands understand their customers by combining the rigor of traditional research with the speed of AI," said Alexandra Burbey, Investor at Sound Ventures. "As AI becomes embedded in every workflow, Knit stands out by keeping human insight at the center." The capital will be used to accelerate product development, including new AI-powered features, and expand research use cases based on market needs. Knit will also scale its go-to-market and research teams to support its growing enterprise customer base and expand its international research capabilities. "We've always wanted to scale our research efforts, but doing that without losing control over quality or consistency felt impossible, until we started working with Knit," said Brooks Deaton, VP, Data & Insights at NASCAR. "Now, we can run more studies, explore more ideas, and support more teams across the org, all without adding headcount. Knit gives us the flexibility to move fast while staying grounded in rigor." Looking ahead, Knit is continuing to invest heavily in new AI capabilities. The company is also expanding its in-house research team to ensure every customer is paired with a skilled research partner on every project. About KnitKnit is the end-to-end, AI-native platform transforming how enterprises conduct consumer research. Built for speed and substance, Knit enables teams to run agency-quality quantitative and qualitative studies faster and receive report-ready insights in days. The platform's Researcher-Driven AI model automates time-intensive tasks including analysis, synthesis, and reporting, while preserving the depth, rigor, and context that come from human insight and experience. By combining the power of AI with human expertise, Knit helps teams uncover sharper insights and drive faster, more confident decisions. The company is backed by GFT Ventures, Sound Ventures, Osage, Rise of the Rest, and Silicon Road Ventures. For more information about Knit, visit View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Knit / BAM Communications Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump lowers expectations of trade deal with Canada as tariff deadline looms
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump is dampening expectations of a deal with Canada materializing at the last minute as his tariff deadline looms. In a post on social media, the president says it will be very hard to make a deal with Canada after Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday announced Ottawa intends to recognize a Palestinian state. Trump previously sent a letter to Carney threatening to impose 35 per cent tariffs if Canada doesn't make a trade deal by Friday. The White House has said those duties would not apply to goods compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA. While Trump continues to boast about his tariffs on the world, the president's main tool to realign global trade will face a hurdle in court today. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will hear from businesses and states that say Trump's use of a national security statute to implement the duties is beyond his powers as president. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2025. Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
American First Finance Announces Exclusive Marketing Partnership with Esquire Advertising to Launch AFF G.P.S. EsqXlusive Program
DALLAS, July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American First Finance (AFF), a leading provider of point-of-sale lease-to-own and financing payment solutions, has inked an exclusive strategic partnership with leading-edge ad tech company Esquire Advertising to launch the AFF G.P.S. EsqXlusive Program, a first-of-its-kind program designed to help AFF merchants drive more qualified foot traffic. The G.P.S. (Grow. Perform. Succeed.) program offers participating merchants a dollar-for-dollar match where the program co-invests $1 for every dollar the merchant invests towards their digital campaigns. In addition to doubling campaign reach, the proprietary geo-framing approach reduces ad-spend waste for the merchant by avoiding bots and click farms while driving more qualified traffic through the doors. "This partnership reflects our commitment to going beyond just financing; we're helping our partners grow their overall business and bottom lines smarter, faster, and more efficiently," said Mark Shelley, Head of Sales at American First Finance. "Esquire's cutting-edge technology and proven performance across the furniture and mattress industries made them the ideal partner to deliver this next-level value to our merchant network." The AFF G.P.S. EsqXlusive Program offers: Ad Spend Matching: Participating merchants can allocate AFF co-op or rebate dollars into digital marketing campaigns that are then matched dollar-for-dollar by Esquire. Hyper-Targeted Ad Placement: Esquire's geo-framing identifies high-intent customers based on foot traffic and online behaviors—ensuring campaigns reach the right audience. Real-Time Attribution Dashboard: Merchants receive transparent reporting to track campaign performance, foot traffic lift, and conversion rates tied directly to their marketing spend. This exclusive partnership applies across all 26 verticals served by AFF, with strong traction already building in the furniture, mattress, appliance, and health & wellness sectors. "We are thrilled to team up with AFF to bring this program to market," said Eric Grindley, CEO of Esquire Advertising. "Our mutual focus on innovation and merchant success makes this collaboration powerful. Together, we're helping retailers advertise and achieve real, measurable growth." Merchant partners leveraging the G.P.S. EsqXlusive Program have reported notable increases in new customer acquisition and more substantial ROI on their co-op dollars. Jason Sellers, owner of North Dakota Mattress Ventures dba Mattress Firm shared "Our experience with Esquire has been very positive. We've seen a big improvement in ROI, from 3:1 up to 42:1, and the EsqXlusive campaign has helped us broaden our reach in a meaningful way. It's been a great step forward for our marketing." About American First FinanceAmerican First Finance (AFF) is a leading point of sale 'shop now, pay later' solutions provider across 26 verticals, including furniture, mattress, auto repair, tire & wheel, elective medical, and more. Based in Dallas, TX, AFF's mission is to provide payment solutions that help ordinary people meet their needs and pursue their dreams. Learn more at About Esquire AdvertisingEsquire Advertising is an award-winning ad tech company specializing in hyper-targeted, data-driven marketing solutions for retailers. Utilizing proprietary geo-framing technology, Esquire helps businesses measure in-store traffic, optimize campaign ROI, and reach the right customers with precision. For more information, visit For further information, please contact: Melissa MuncyAmerican First FinancePhone: (304) 573-9600Email: mmuncy@ in to access your portfolio
