The trend: Food manufacturers are pledging to remove artificial dyes from their products amid pressure from US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.

• Kraft Heinz said it would phase out artificial coloring in products sold in the US by 2027.
• General Mills quickly followed, announcing that it would eliminate artificial dyes across its full US portfolio by 2027, and remove them from all cereals and foods served in K-12 schools by next summer.
• Both Nestlé and Conagra are joining the party. Nestlé pledged to “fully eliminate [food, drug, and cosmetic dye] colors in its US food and beverage portfolio by mid-2026,” and Conagra will stop using such dyes in its frozen foods by year-end, and in all products by the end of 2027.

What consumers think: The decision to remove artificial dyes is a pragmatic way for CPGs to align their portfolios with consumers’ increasingly health-conscious preferences and the shifting regulatory landscape.

• The vast majority—79%—of consumers somewhat or strongly support the FDA’s push to eliminate certain dyes from the US food supply, per a CivicScience survey.
• Nearly half of shoppers (48%) say that the presence of artificial colors or flavorings affects their purchase decisions at least some of the time.

Our take: For most companies, removing artificial dyes from their product lineups is a fairly easy lift, as many have already done so in Europe. It’s also increasingly a necessary move to prevent private labels from encroaching further on their turf, as more retailers launch “free from” lines and pledge to remove ingredients like aspartame and high-fructose corn syrup from their store brands.

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