Some manufacturers in the United States seek to change natural dyes to color their food products, since artificial food dyes are increasingly restricted at the state and federal level.
The Commissioner of the United States Food and Medicines Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, announced in an informative session of April 22 that the agency plans to work with the industry to eliminate the use of oil synthetic dyes based on oil in the United States food supply, CNN.
These dyes are commonly used to manufacture bright and more attractive food and drink products for consumers.
They include red no 40, yellow no 5 and no 6, blue no 1 and no 2, and green no 3.
Natural food dyes, which could replace them, derive from vegetables, fruits, animals and minerals, according to FDA.
Due to concerns about negative impacts on animal and human health, including the greatest risk of cancer and neurochonductual problems, Makary’s announcement is the last movement in the impulse for food companies to stop using artificial dyes.
In addition, the FDA also aims to authorize four new natural dyes and accelerate the review of others, including the extract of blue Galdieria, Gardenia blue, excerpt from butterfly flowers and calcium phosphate.
“FDA is asking food companies that (voluntarily) replace petrochemical dyes with natural ingredients for American children,” Makary said in a press release. “… Given the growing concerns of doctors and parents about the potential role of oil -based food dyes, we should not take risks and do our best to safeguard the health of our children.”
The FDA announcement follows significant changes in the legal scene around food additives in the last two years. California banned red No. 3 throughout the state in October 2023, followed by a prohibition of six other common dyes in school foods in August.
The FDA prohibited red No. 3 in January, from food on January 15, 2027 and for drugs on January 18, 2028, but the agency is now asking food companies to eliminate the dye before.
Prohibiting seven dyes and two preservatives, in March, Virginia Occidental approved the most radical law so far.
Some natural dyes are already being used in products sold in the United States, and some stores have policies that come out of the sale of food with synthetic dyes, said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs in the Environmental Working Group, a non -profit organization of Environmental Health.
