M&M’s without artificial dyes are coming soon. These other brands are following suit

News M&M’s without artificial dyes are coming soon. These other brands are following suit Comments: by Addy Bink - 06/23/26 6:14 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Addy Bink - 06/23/26 6:14 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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(NEXSTAR) — Mars recently announced that M&M’s made without artificial dyes will soon be available, though two iconic colors won’t be included.

The candy maker is one of several companies that have taken steps to produce products without artificial dyes following a call from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last year.

Last spring, then-FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency would move to eliminate several synthetic dyes — Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, and Blue 2 — by the end of 2026. Red 3 was set to be banned in food by 2027 because it caused cancer in laboratory rats; the FDA called for that deadline to be moved up.

Many U.S. food companies quickly agreed to reformulate their foods, according to Sensient Colors, one of the world’s largest producers of food dyes and flavorings. In place of synthetic dyes, foodmakers can use natural hues made from beets, algae and crushed insects and pigments from purple sweet potatoes, radishes and red cabbage.

In addition to Mars (which will also produce naturally-colored Skittles, Extra Gum, and Starburst fruit chews), other major companies that announced plans to ditch synthetic colors are General Mills, PepsiCo, ConAgra, McCormick, JM Smucker, Hershey, and Kraft Heinz.

Campbell’s agreed to stop producing food or beverages, like Lane Crackers and V8 Splash, with the above dyes this year, according to a tracker from the FDA. McKee Foods, the maker of Little Debbie and Sunbelt Bakery snacks, has agreed to remove artificial dyes by the end of 2027.

Some brands have already completed their move to ditch artificial food dyes.

In-N-Out removed artificial colorings from its strawberry shakes and pink lemonade last spring. Sam’s Club has also removed synthetic colors from products sold under its Member’s Mark label. Cereal sold under Target’s private label no longer includes synthetic colors.

The FDA says Nestle and Tyson Foods have already completed their goals, as has part of the PepsiCo portfolio. Late last year, the latter unveiled “naked” versions of some of its most popular chips.

Health advocates have long called for the removal of artificial dyes from foods, citing mixed studies indicating they can cause neurobehavioral problems, including hyperactivity and attention issues, in some children. The FDA has maintained that the approved dyes are safe and that “the totality of scientific evidence shows that most children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing color additives.”

Removing dyes from the food supply will not address the chief health problems that plague Americans, Susan Mayne, a Yale University chronic disease expert and former director of the FDA’s food center, told The Associated Press last year.

“With every one of their announcements, they’re focusing in on something that’s not going to accomplish what they say it is,” Mayne said of Kennedy’s initiatives. “Most of these food dyes have been in our food supply for 100 years. … So why aren’t they driving toward reductions in things that do drive chronic disease rates?”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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