On April 21, 2025, the FDA announced that the agency plans to phase out synthetic dyes from foods. However, during a press conference on April 22, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., clarified that there would be only an 'understanding' from the food and beverage industry to make the switch, and the agency would not be issuing a ban. Read to learn more about the risks of synthetic dyes, how CSPI has led the fight to better regulate dyes, and how the FDA could further protect consumers from harmful chemicals. 

The FDA 'plans' to remove six synthetic dyes from foods

On April 22, 2025, the FDA announced plans to "phase out" from the food system six petroleum-based synthetic dyes: Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, by the end of 2026.  

Other, lesser-used dyes, namely Orange B and Citrus Red 2, will be phased out “in the coming months,” said FDA Commissioner Martin Makary.

The agency also said that it will request that the food and beverage industry remove Red 3 sooner than the previously announced compliance deadline of 2027 for foods.

However, the agency is not issuing a ban; instead, the FDA has asked food manufacturers to comply with the agency's request to remove these food dyes voluntarily. Because using synthetic food dyes has always been voluntary, there is no incentive from today's announcement for manufacturers to switch to natural food colors.

CSPI President Dr. Peter Lurie called the press conference "disappointing" and noted that the agency issued "no rulemaking of any sort" to remove commonly used synthetic dyes from the food supply. 

"We are told that the administration has an unspecified 'understanding' with some unspecified fraction of the food industry to eliminate dyes," said Lurie. "We wish Kennedy and Makary well getting these unnecessary and harmful dyes out of the food supply and hope they succeed. ... But history tells us that relying on voluntary food industry compliance has all-too-often proven to be a fool’s errand."

The agency also announced plans to authorize four natural dyes and expedite approval of natural dyes.

Read more: FDA signals intent to phase out synthetic dyes from food supply 

What are synthetic food dyes?

Many of the most commonly used food colors are synthetic petroleum-derived chemicals that do not occur in nature. These synthetic dyes often substitute for real, nutritious ingredients, such as fruits and vegetables, and are often used to make ultra-processed foods more attractive, especially those manufactured for and marketed to children. And, unlike some additives, dyes don’t keep food from spoiling or fend off bacteria that cause food poisoning. They simply exist to help food companies make money by selling brightly colored foods.

Since synthetic food dyes like Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 are commonplace on supermarket shelves and in school foods, they’re likely in the foods you and your family eat regularly.

The risks of synthetic dyes

Evidence that synthetic food dyes can cause neurobehavioral problems in some children, including hyperactivity and inattention, has been accumulating for decades. In 2021, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) completed a comprehensive, systematic review of the evidence, including 27 human clinical trials plus a number of animal and in vitro, and concluded that the seven most widely used synthetic food dyes—Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6—can cause or exacerbate neurobehavioral problems in some children. OEHHA pointed out that these types of neurobehavioral problems can make it harder for affected kids to succeed in school and socially.  

OEHHA also raised concerns about how these unnecessary color additives were approved by the FDA in the first place. OEHHA determined that the safe intake levels set by the FDA for synthetic food dyes may not sufficiently protect children because the animal studies the FDA used to set these levels were not designed for—or even capable of—detecting neurobehavioral impacts.  

CSPI has been a key leader on food dyes for decades

For years, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has urged the FDA to protect both adults and children from synthetic food dyes like Red 3, Yellow 5, and Red 40.  

After animal studies completed in the 1980s revealed that Red 3 causes thyroid cancer in rats, in 1990 the FDA banned the dye in topical drugs but not from the food supply or other oral products. The FDA promised to also ban Red 3 from food and oral drugs. After waiting decades for the FDA to keep that promise, CSPI got tired of waiting. With support from 23 other organizations and scientists, CSPI petitioned the FDA to eliminate the carcinogenic dye from the food and drug supply in October of 2022.

While the FDA deliberated, California enacted the California Food Safety Act with CSPI’s support, banning Red 3 and three other unsafe additives statewide. Other states followed California’s lead by introducing similar legislation. Earlier this year, the flurry of state action eventually culminated in the FDA under the Biden administration granting CSPI’s petition by announcing a federal ban on Red 3 in foods and oral drugs, set to take effect in January 2027 for food and 2028 for drugs.

CSPI has been a leader on calling for federal and state action to regulate other synthetic dyes, including through petitions, reports, public comments, and by supporting key state and federal legislation. CSPI petitioned FDA to ban synthetic food dyes in 2008. In 2017, we sponsored the bill funding OEHHA to conduct its landmark assessment of food dyes, and last year we closely supported the California School Food Safety Act, first-in-the-nation legislation signed into law in September 2024, which banned six synthetic dyes from school foods in the state.

Despite this step, bigger problems at the FDA persist

The FDA has an ongoing responsibility to protect consumers from harmful food chemicals. But the agency faces massive cuts to staffing that threaten health and food safety for everyone. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has announced thousands of layoffs across HHS, including at the FDA.

In the words of CSPI President Dr. Peter G. Lurie, “The cuts are arbitrary, sweeping, and will be devastating to the FDA’s food and medical product programs, leaving the FDA’s teams who communicate about and prevent foodborne outbreaks, ban dangerous food chemicals, and ensure the safety and effectiveness of medical products scrambling to operate.” 

Fixing the root concerns in food chemical safety

The agency should not wait for petitions from CSPI or new state laws before it finally acts. The FDA and Congress have a long way to go to reform the broken food chemical regulatory system that allowed synthetic dyes to remain in use for so long after we knew they were unsafe.  

The agency has failed to effectively monitor the safety of chemicals after they come to market, which is why, after years of prompting by CSPI and our partners, the agency announced plans in 2024 to develop an enhanced framework for conducting post-market assessments of food chemical safety.

While the FDA works to develop that plan, consumers continue to be exposed to unsafe food chemicals, including the artificial sweetener aspartame, the white pigment titanium dioxide, the preservative propylparaben, and the food packaging chemicals phthalates.

Additionally, the FDA should close the “secret GRAS” loophole. Current federal regulations allow companies to bypass FDA approval for new food additives by simply declaring that the substance is “generally recognized as safe” or GRAS. This lets industry—not the FDA—decide which chemicals are safe for us to eat, and there are now thousands of chemicals added to our foods that have never undergone independent safety evaluations by the FDA.

On March 10, 2025, HHS and FDA announced plans to examine ways to close this loophole.

“This is an important, long-overdue step in the right direction that will benefit children and families,” said Thomas Galligan, CSPI’s principal scientist for food additives and supplements, “but it does not fix the root cause of the problem–that our federal food chemical regulatory system is broken and in desperate need of reform.”

It is crucial that the agency builds on actions restricting food dyes by instituting broader reforms to the food chemical regulatory system.  

To learn more about food additives and how CSPI rates them from Safe to Avoid, visit Chemical Cuisine, CSPI's Food Additive Safety Ratings.

Sign Our Petition for Safer Food