The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced a notable change to how food makers can market colored products: companies may now claim “no artificial colors” on labels if their products avoid petroleum‑based synthetic dyes and instead use colors derived from natural sources.
The move comes alongside two regulatory approvals — the authorization of beetroot red as a food colorant and an expanded list of allowable uses for spirulina extract — measures the agency says will help speed industry’s shift away from petroleum‑derived dyes.
The change, in plain English
Until now, a product could only wear the “no artificial colors” badge if it contained no added color at all, whether the coloring came from a plant, an algae or a synthetic source. The FDA told industry it will exercise enforcement discretion — in other words, it will not enforce the old interpretation — so long as products do not contain petroleum‑based color additives.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. framed the announcement as part of a broader campaign to remake American diets, saying the change makes it easier for companies “to move away from petroleum‑based synthetic colors and adopt safer, naturally derived alternatives.” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary added that labeling should not penalize colors that originate from natural sources.
The agency also approved beetroot red after a petition from Phytolon (filed in November 2023) and granted expanded uses for spirulina extract following a petition from GNT in July 2024. That brings the number of natural color options approved during the current administration to six, the FDA said.
Officials sent a letter to industry outlining the policy shift and reminding manufacturers of their continuing responsibility to ensure color additive safety and purity.
Why it matters — and the caveats
Synthetic, petroleum‑based dyes have been common in highly processed foods because they’re cheap, stable and predictable in color. But some of those dyes have been linked in animal studies — and, in some contested human research — to cancer risks and neurobehavioral effects in children. The agency has already taken steps: Red No. 3 (erythrosine) was banned by the FDA in January 2025, and regulators have encouraged industry to phase out other petroleum‑based dyes.
Food companies large and small have been shifting away from synthetic colors: retailers and brands including Kraft Heinz, General Mills, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Hershey announced pledges to reduce certain artificial dyes. Regulators in some states have moved faster; California has passed laws restricting several artificial dyes in school foods with staggered timelines through 2027.
But “natural” is not a guarantee of harmlessness. Scientists and food‑safety experts caution that evidence on the safety of many natural colorants is thinner than people think. Spirulina, for example, is a cyanobacterium valued as a supplement, but contaminants (like microcystins) can appear in poorly controlled products; the FDA’s note to industry highlights the need for attention to safety and purity standards.
And even if natural dyes are safe at the tiny levels used in foods, they don’t add nutrition; beet and spirulina extracts used as colorants are present in such small amounts they confer little or no dietary benefit.
Practical questions remain. Natural colorants can be more expensive, less heat‑stable, and harder to standardize than synthetic pigments — challenges for makers of mass‑market, shelf‑stable, ultra‑processed foods. That raises concerns about affordability and access: will lower‑income shoppers see the same range of colorful packaged foods, or could reformulation increase costs? Nutritionists say the bigger dietary problems remain added sugar, salt and ultra‑processing, even as colorant debates continue.
What consumers can do now
If you want to avoid petroleum‑based dyes, the safest short‑term tactic is to read ingredient lists. Artificial dyes often appear as FD&C or “Red/Blue/Yellow No.” (for example, Red 40 or Yellow 5) or under names like Allura Red AC and tartrazine. Labels that say “no artificial colors” may now include products colored with plant or algae extracts; under the FDA’s new approach, those products won’t be treated as having “artificial” colors so long as petroleum‑based dyes are absent.
For manufacturers, the onus is clear: any new natural color they adopt must meet authorization, safety and purity standards. The FDA’s letter points companies to resources for maintaining those standards as they reformulate.
The shift is regulatory and symbolic. It lowers a marketing barrier for natural colors and expands the palette companies can use, but how quickly supermarket shelves change — and how cleanly those alternatives are regulated — will depend on follow‑through from regulators, the food industry and watchdogs. The result: the colors of many familiar foods may look more plant‑based in the months and years ahead, even if the science and supply chains behind those hues are still catching up.