The neon green Jell-O in the grocery aisles will soon lose its unhealthy glow.
Kraft Heinz vowed Tuesday to scrap synthetic dyes from its US products for brands that include Jell-O, Kool-Aid, Crystal Light beverages and Jet-Puffed marshmallows.
The ketchup king, whose famed condiment is all-natural, became the first major company to publicly tout a rollback of the controversial additives amid pressure from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as part of a broader move to address chronic diseases and conditions such as obesity among Americans.
In April, Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” campaign led the Food and Drug Administration to announce a plan to phase out the use of so-called FD&C artificial dyes – including red dye 40, yellow dye 5, yellow dye 6, blue dye 1, blue dye 2 and green dye 2.
About 10% of Kraft Heinz products contain these synthetic dyes, which the company said it will banish beginning in 2027. It also vowed not to launch any new items with artificial colors.
Instead, the company plans to replace them with natural alternatives, but that will alter the bright rainbow of colors shoppers have grown to love, food scientist Bryan Quoc Le told The Post.
These natural dyes typically come from a food source, giving them a slight taste. Using turmeric for yellow coloring or beetroot for red, for example, could add an “off flavor” to products, Quoc Le said.
Natural food dyes also are a challenge for manufacturers since they’re more difficult to stabilize, which means they’re more susceptible to changing color from overhead lighting, said Alireza Abbaspourrad, a Cornell University professor and researcher of natural food colors.
And their extraction and purification processes come with added costs, so Kraft Heinz could see its production costs jump as it switches over to natural sources, Abbaspourrad told The Post.
Several studies have found ties between FD&C food dyes and behavioral issues in children. The Food and Drug Administration has not established a causal link between the two.
In January, under the Biden administration, the FDA had slapped a ban on the use of Red No. 3 dye in food and drugs after studies found the synthetic dye caused cancer in lab rats.
“These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development,” Kennedy said in April.
The FDA did not reveal any mandates or formal agreements with the food industry in April. Rather, Kennedy said “the industry has voluntarily agreed” to the restrictions.
Kennedy had met with executives at top food companies including Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo North America, General Mills, WK Kellogg, Tyson Foods and JM Smucker, as well as the industry trade group Consumer Brands Association.
“The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors, and we’ve been on a journey to reduce our use of FD&C colors across the remainder of our portfolio,” said Pedro Navio, Kraft Heinz’s North America president.
In 2016, the company removed artificial colors, preservatives and flavors from its Kraft Mac & Cheese, Navio said.
Public opinion has largely turned against the dyes over growing concerns about health risks.
Hundreds gathered outside WK Kellogg headquarters last year to protest the company’s continued use of artificial dyes in its breakfast cereals, like Froot Loops and Apple Jacks.
About 15% of WK Kellogg’s cereal sales come from products containing artificial colors, a spokesperson told The Post.
None of its products have contained Red No. 3 dye for years, though, and it is currently reformulating cereals sold in schools so they will not include synthetic dyes by the 2026-27 school year, the spokesperson added.
“We look forward to working with Health and Human Services and the FDA to identify ways to effectively remove FD&C colors from the small percentage of our food that contains them today,” WK Kellogg said in a statement.
