Synthetic dyes are much more food in the United States than hot red candies and electric blue freezer pops. They hide in a wide variety of foods and drinks – even those who do not cry out “food coloring”.
A recent study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Watch how widespread the dyes. Using a large food database sold in the United States, researchers have analyzed their labels for seven synthetic dyes, which are derived from oil. Currently, nine synthetic dyes are allowed in what we eat and drink. (The FDA prohibited one, red dye n ° 3, in January 2025, and is revoking authorization for two others, Orange B and Citrus Red No. 2; all synthetic dyes are targeted to be removed from the American food supply.)
In addition to finding these dyes in food processed in bright colors, researchers have also found them in more deaf foods such as blueberries, taco shells, carbonated drinks and hot dog breads. Overall, they were present in approximately 1 foods and drinks out of 5.
“”[Finding it in] Plain Hot Dog Buns shocked me, “explains Elizabeth Dunford, who managed the study and is assistant assistant professor at the Gillings School of Public Health Health of the University of Caroline du Nord and member of the George Institute for Global Health at the University of New South Gales. “I don’t think it’s on the radar of the average consumer.”
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The health risks of the consumption of synthetic dyes are not entirely clear, but studies in animals show that they can damage DNA, contribute to the overactivity of the immune system and cause cancer. There is still not enough data exploring how these dyes can affect people, but researchers explore potential links between them and hyperactivity and neuro -haviore problems in children. Dunford says that, given their prevalence on the American food and drinks market, “we need new security studies”.
In April 2025, the American Secretary for Health and Social Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced that HHS and the United States Food and Drug Administration would begin to eliminate all oil-based synthetic dyes in food supply by the end of 2026 and would replace them with natural alternatives. The agencies also revoke the approval of two food dyes – Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B – and plan to approve four new natural dyes for food.
Kennedy said HHS would also work with the National Institutes of Health to conduct more in -depth studies on how food additives affect children’s development.
Currently, American regulatory organizations classify synthetic dyes as “safe when used in accordance with the regulations of the FDA”, which dictate what types of food can contain them and in what quantities. But some states have taken stronger measures to warn consumers of their potential health risks.
In 2023, California adopted legislation to prohibit four food additives sold in the State as well as in school nutrition programs by 2027. In March 2025, Virginia-Western promulgated similar legislation targeting food provided by school nutrition programs as well as food sold in the state. In June, Texas adopted a law requiring warning labels on food containing one of the more than 40 additives or dyes in food, from 2027.
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Warning labels are similar to those found on certain foods in Europe which contain dyes or synthetic additives as a means for consumers to be aware of their exposure, even if the definitive studies on health effects have not yet been carried out. It is an effective way to alert consumers to potential damage and allow them to make more informed decisions about what they eat, explains Dunford. “The fact that there is a potential risk could ensure that consumers adopt a different approach,” she says.
Food manufacturers also address synthetic dyes. JM Smucker Co. has undertaken to eliminate the synthetic food dyes of its products, such as its sugar-free fruit differences, its ice cream garnishes and certain hostess products, by 2027. Kraft-Heinz has also stopped using synthetic dyes in all new products and phase from existing products by 2027. A spokesperson for the company. Mills said that this would eliminate these colors from cereals and foods provided to American schools by the summer of 2026, and Hershey, Conagra, Pepsico and Mars also undertook to remove synthetic dyes from their food products.
These movements should help with a part of the burden of consumers who, to this point, had to check the labels and find out about the presence of dyes in food and drinks. Dunford notes that certain companies also sell two versions of the same product, those made with synthetic dyes and one without – it is therefore up to the consumer to distinguish between the two. “Consumers should not have to do so,” she says, which is why warning labels could be a better way to educate people in the place where synthetic dyes can hide.
