FDA Approves 3 New Food Dyes

Soon our children — and we — will be able to nosh on brightly colored cereal, candy, or fruit drinks without eating petroleum.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved three new food dyes that are based on natural sources rather than synthetic materials like petroleum-based additives.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s pick for Secretary of the Department Health and Human Services which oversees the FDA, has been pushing to ban synthetic dyes from food. Red 3 was banned this month, and a long list of others are on the chopping block.

“For too long, our food system has relied on synthetic, petroleum-based dyes that offer no nutritional value and pose unnecessary health risks, ” Kennedy said. “We’re removing these dyes and approving safe, natural alternatives to protect families and support healthier choices.”

“FDA staff has been moving quickly … to transition away from petroleum-based dyes in the food supply and provide new colors from natural sources,” said FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary, M.D.

The newly approved additives are:

• Galdieria extract blue, derived from a type of algae.
• Butterfly pea flower extract, from dehydrated petals of the flower, that can produce a range of colors and shades.
• Calcium phosphate, a white color approved for use in ready-to-eat chicken products, white candy melts, doughnut sugar, and sugar for coated candies.

—– David J. Glenn