WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, on Tuesday announced a plan to ban synthetic food dyes that color everyday snack items such as Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and M&Ms.
The first step in the plan is for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revoke authorization of citrus red No. 2 and orange B.
After that, the Department of Health and Human Services said, it will work with industry to eliminate six petroleum-based food dyes: blue 1, blue 2, green 3, red 40, yellow 5 and yellow 6.
California passed a law banning those six dyes last year, citing developmental and behavioral harms in children. The state law is set to go into effect the end of 2027.
The FDA is instead encouraging the use of so-called natural food dyes such as gardenia blue and calcium phosphate. “Red dye? Try watermelon juice or beet juice,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said at the media event, holding up a jar of…
