In his first attempt to significantly change the nation’s food supply, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, will direct food manufacturers to phase out eight petroleum-based food dyes that are found in hundreds of thousands of grocery-store staples, the Department of Health and Human Services said on Monday.
The plan, expected to be described in detail at an event in Washington on Tuesday, targets dyes used in cereals, sports drinks and a host of other foods. The department has not outlined a regulatory path to enforce the changes, but wants them to be made by the end of 2026.
Health advocates have long criticized food dyes, citing a limited body of research connecting them to hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral problems in children. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates about 80 percent of the nation’s food supply, banned Red Dye No. 3 shortly before Mr. Trump took office, after studies connected it to cancer in laboratory animals. That followed a 2023 California law that banned the dye.
The eight dyes Mr. Kennedy wants to phase out are widely used within the United States, but products made for the European markets — where companies are required to use warning labels if they add them — and Canadian markets already use natural color substitutes. The secretary is expected to announce the approval of additional natural dyes at Tuesday’s event.
Mr. Kennedy, long a champion of removing certain chemicals from the food supply, made food dyes an issue as soon as he was selected to head the health department, pointing out that in Canada, Froot Loops gets its bright colors from blueberries and carrots instead of the Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5 and Blue No. 1 in the American version.
The changes would have a sweeping impact on major food companies like General Mills, the Kraft Heinz Company and PepsiCo, which have argued that there hasn’t been enough science connecting ingredients with health outcomes.
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