Federal regulators on Feb. 5 said that companies can label food and drinks as having no artificial colors, provided any added colors come from natural sources.
The Food and Drug Administration previously prohibited companies from labeling products with the designation “no artificial colors” unless the products had no added colors whatsoever.
“This is real progress,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “We are making it easier for companies to move away from petroleum-based synthetic colors and adopt safer, naturally derived alternatives. This momentum advances our broader effort to help Americans eat real food and Make America Healthy Again.”
FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said that the previous labeling rules were confusing and hindered companies that were trying to update their products with natural colors.
“We’re taking away that hindrance and making it easier for companies to use these colors in the foods our families eat every day,” he said.
Numerous companies, including PepsiCo and Tyson Foods Inc., have started shifting or have announced plans to switch some products to natural colors after meeting with Kennedy or other officials.
The FDA notified manufacturers of the action in a letter stating that the agency does not intend to enforce a portion of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that deals with labeling products as being made without artificial colors or not having added artificial coloring.
In a separate communication, regulators reminded manufacturers that all additives must meet regulatory specifications.
“Color additive manufacturers should limit impurities, including heavy metal contaminants, solvent residues, and microbial contaminants,” the letter states. “Stringent heavy metal limits for substances added to the food supply are important for reducing dietary exposure to environmental contaminants to as low as possible.”
Regulators have also in recent months approved new natural colors, including a blue color derived from butterfly pea flower extract.
On Thursday, the FDA expanded approval for the use of spirulina extract as a blue-green coloring agent and approved an additional new color option. Companies can soon begin coloring products red using liquid or powder produced using a modified yeast strain that expresses genes for biosynthesis from beets, regulators said in a notice in the Federal Register.
Several companies have proposed or begun using beetroot red in products that mimic meat but are comprised of plant ingredients.
“We are working diligently to facilitate industry’s phase out of petroleum-based colors and speed up authorizations for colors that are derived from alternative sources,” Kyle Diamantas, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods, said in a statement. “The actions announced today give companies even more ways to transition to the use of alternative colors derived from natural sources.”
