M&M’s, Skittles, and some of the world’s most popular colorful candies will be made without artificial colors in the United States next year.
Candy manufacturer Mars Wrigley North America quietly announced the move last month, saying the products would be made available online across the country.
“Brands that will soon have options made without FD&C colors: M&M’s Chocolate, Skittles Original, Extra Gum Spearmint and Starburst Original fruit chews,” the company said. The colors are called “FD&C colors” because they also may be used in drugs and cosmetics.
The items will be offered across four categories of its popular treats, including gum, fruity confections, and chocolate.
“Our experts are exploring alternatives that satisfy scientific safety criteria, technical requirements and consumer preferences,” the company wrote.
Mars Wrigley is slated to announce further timelines and commitments to complying with the Trump administration’s push to “Make America Healthy Again” when it has “identified fully effective, scalable solutions across the entire portfolio.”
A request for comment from the candy maker was not immediately returned to The Independent. Earlier this year, Mars Wrigley removed titanium dioxide from Skittles, Fox News reported, which is a color additive used to make food look whiter.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has targeted artificial dyes used in products sold in the U.S., announcing measures to phase out eight dyes by the end of next year.
Those dyes include Starburst’s Red No. 40, the Yellow No. 5 found in Doritos, and McCormick Culinary food dye’s Blue No. 2.
Red 3, which is found in the candy Pez, was banned from the nation’s food supply back in January, after studies found that the dye caused cancer in lab rats.
“For too long, some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent,” Kennedy said in April. “These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development.
The dyes have been tied to neurological problems in some children, although the Food and Drug Administration says “most children have no adverse effects” when consuming foods containing color additives.”
Still states have moved to enact laws that banned the colors and other additives from school meals, including California and West Virginia.
Since Kennedy’s announcement, other companies have announced plans similar to Mars Wrigley’s.
In June, Kraft Heinz and General Mills said artificial dyes would be removed from some products within the next two years. The Hershey Company, McCormick & Co., J.M. Smucker, and Nestlé USA have also made their own commitments.
One in five packaged food and drink products in the U.S. contain synthetic dyes, researchers said in June.
In place of the artificial dyes, the Food and Drug Administration said in May that it had approved three new color additives from “natural sources.”
“FDA staff have been moving quickly to expedite the publication of these decisions, underscoring our serious intent to transition away from petroleum-based dyes in the food supply and provide new colors from natural sources,” Commissioner Martin Makary said.
