The US Food and Drug Administration has revised its labelling rules on food dyes to allow producers using ‘natural’ food dyes to use the “no artificial colours” claim.
Under the updated guidance, announced yesterday (5 February), the FDA said products may be labelled as containing “no artificial colours” if they are free of petroleum-based dyes, even when they include colour additives obtained “from natural sources”.
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Previously, the agency allowed such claims only when products “had no added colour whatsoever – whether derived from natural sources or otherwise”.
The FDA also said yesterday it has approved beetroot red as a new natural colour source and expanded the permitted uses of spirulina extract.
The new guidance follows FDA’s measures announced in April to phase out petroleum-based dyes, starting with withdrawal of authorisation for two synthetic colourings, Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B.
“This is real progress,” US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said on the guidance change. “We are making it easier for companies to move away from petroleum-based synthetic colors and adopt safer, naturally derived alternatives. This momentum advances our broader effort to help Americans eat real food and Make America Healthy Again.”
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By GlobalDataThe latest update from the FDA however has drawn criticism from US NGO the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which is seeking more clarity on how the policy will be applied.
Sarah Sorscher, director of regulatory affairs at the CSPI, said in a LinkedIn post: “This statement warrants further clarification because ‘petroleum-based dyes’ is not an existing scientific or regulatory category. Instead, FDA divides colour additives into ‘certified’ and ‘non-certified.’
“While the certified color additives have been the focus of most corporate commitments, titanium dioxide can be synthesised or mined, so depending on how the policy is written, it may evade the ‘artificial colour’ label along with less problematic ‘natural’ dyes.”
CSPI had previously also questioned the agency’s April announcement to remove six other synthetic dyes – FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Blue No. 1 and FD&C Blue No. 2 – from the food supply by the end of this year, arguing that “no rulemaking of any sort” was announced for that group.
“It’s disappointing that Secretary Kennedy and Commissioner Makary would hold a press conference to announce the elimination of food dyes – only for reporters to learn that the only real regulatory moves here are to move to ban two rarely used dyes, Citrus Red 2 and Orange B, within the coming months,” CSPI president Dr Peter Lurie had said at the time.
Some manufacturers have already moved to eliminate synthetic dyes.
In December, CSPI said 11 US food and beverage makers, including Kraft Heinz, Nestlé and WK Kellogg, plan to eliminate synthetic dyes.
However, Meghan Enslow, a policy associate at CSPI, said “these companies don’t tend to be the ones that are using the most dyes”.
The advocacy body identifies the six heaviest users of synthetic dyes as Ferrero, Hershey, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Mars, McKee Foods Corp. and PepsiCo.
Notably, the most aggressive step in this regard at a state level has come from West Virginia, which in March, approved the ban of food colourings including Red Dye No. 40 and Yellow Dye No. 5.
The ingredients were banned from food served through school programmes in the state from August. They were to be pulled from all food products sold in West Virginia by the start of 2028.
Last month however, a judge in the state issued a preliminary injunction against the law.
