What to Know About RFK Jr.’s Plan to Phase Out Artificial Food Dyes
U.S. health officials hope to remove artificial dyes from the food supply by the end of 2026.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the Oval Office at the White House on April 18, 2025.
The Trump administration on Tuesday announced plans to phase out petroleum-based artificial dyes from the nation’s food supply – a step the Department of Health and Human Services deemed a “significant milestone in the administration’s broader initiative to Make America Healthy Again.”
HHS and the Food and Drug Administration pledged to work to establish a national standard for the food industry to transition from petrochemical-based dyes to natural alternatives. But the announcement fell short of a formal ban.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent.
“Four years from now, we're going to have most of these products off the market, or you will know about them when you go to the grocery store,” Kennedy said at an event announcing the steps.
The agencies said they would initiate the process of revoking authorization for two artificial food dyes – Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B – in the coming months. They said they hope to work with food producers to eliminate six other artificial dyes from the food supply by the end of 2026 and approve four new natural color additives in the coming weeks.
“For the last 50 years, American children have increasingly been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals,” Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary said at the event.
Makary added that the steps announced “means that the FDA is effectively removing all petroleum-based food dyes from the U.S. food supply.”
The FDA defines color additives, or food dyes, as “any substance that imparts color to a food, drug, cosmetic or to the human body.”
“Color additives may be used in food to enhance natural colors, add color to colorless and ‘fun’ foods such as cake decorations, and help identify flavors (such as purple for grape flavor or yellow for lemon),” the FDA states.
Kennedy has long supported removing artificial dye from foods, so it is not a surprising priority for the new HHS leader.
