FDA eyes phaseout of petroleum-based food dyes

The US Food and Drug Administration plans to work with industry to remove petroleum-based food dyes from the US food supply by the end of next year. Specifically, the agency is targeting the most commonly used dyes: red no. 40, yellow no. 5, yellow no. 6, blue no. 1, blue no. 2, and green no. 3. The FDA is also asking companies to stop adding red no. 3 dye sooner than the 2027 deadline announced earlier this year under the previous administration. The plan, which FDA Commissioner Marty Makary announced during an April 22 press conference, relies on food manufacturers voluntarily replacing synthetic dyes with those from naturally derived ingredients like beets and carrots. Makary is optimistic that industry will go along with the plan. Manufacturers “are eager to do this. They don’t want to deal with the patchwork of 30 different state plans,” he said at the press conference.