HHS to ban petroleum-based food dyes
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Monday announced a coming ban on petroleum-based artificial food dyes.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary will provide more details in a joint press conference on Tuesday about how they plan to “phase out the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the nation’s food supply.”
The ban is expected to be the largest federal one so far. In January, the FDA banned Red 3, a dye linked to cancer in mice. The ban will take effect in January 2027.
The push to ban food dyes has accelerated with the launch of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement under Kennedy, triggering panic among Big Food corporations. In March, West Virginia’s legislature passed the most extensive state ban on food dyes to date, prohibiting the sale of any food products containing Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, or Green 3.
These dyes have been associated with various medical conditions, particularly in children. Yellow 5, for example—also known as tartrazine—is derived from coal tar and has been linked to ADHD, food intolerance, and reproductive health issues. Red 40, also known as Allura Red AC, has been linked to hyperactivity in children and bowel disorders and has been found to damage the DNA of mice.
“I think they care about the message that West Virginia is sending to the rest of the country, that we’re willing to have the courage and we’re willing to be the first one to ban these harmful synthetic food dyes,” state Senator Jason Barrett said after the passage of HB 2354. Barrett added that it was a mark of the food industry’s panic that it sent lobbyists to Charleston to try to stop the bill. The lobbyists were representatives from the American Beverage Association (ABA), which works on behalf of PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and other food giants.
‘A travesty’
The West Virginia Beverage Association (WVBA), the ABA’s state chapter, warned that passing HB 2354 will have consequences.
“The natural result will be empty store shelves and sky-high grocery prices,” WVBA President Larry Swann wrote in an email to state lawmakers. Swann also threatened Rep. Evan Worrell, who chairs the House Health and Human Resources Committee, with the closure of a Pepsi distribution center in his district, which would cost jobs.
“I got mad and slammed my fist on the table and I told him, ‘Don’t ever threaten me with jobs again. I’ll make sure everybody knows who you really are,’” Worrell said.
The ABA and WVBA have also predicted that 60% of grocery store items will disappear because of the bill. State Rep. Adam Burkhammer, who sponsored HB 2354, dismissed the claim as false. Popular Food Babe blogger Vani Hari said that, assuming the claim is true, all the more reason the bill must become law.
“The food industry just admitted that 60% of food at the grocery store has petroleum and coal tar-based ingredients in them — this in itself is a travesty and why we desperately need this type of legislation to pass,” she said.
