Red 40, Yellow 5, and the Dyes the FDA Is Phasing Out

The FDA originally certified nine petroleum-based synthetic dyes for use in food. Two were banned decades ago. A seventh — Red No. 3 (Erythrosine) — was formally banned by the FDA in January 2025 under the Delaney Clause, a federal law requiring that any additive shown to cause cancer in animals must be removed from the food supply. Red No. 3's deadline for food manufacturers is January 15, 2027.

That leaves six dyes in the voluntary phase-out announced in April 2025:

• FD&C Red No. 40 (Allura Red) — the most widely used synthetic food dye in the US. Found in candy, fruit snacks, breakfast cereals, sports drinks, maraschino cherries, and gelatin desserts.
• FD&C Yellow No. 5 (Tartrazine) — present in mac and cheese powder, mustard, pickles, cereals, and sports drinks. The most-studied dye in terms of behavioral effects.
• FD&C Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow) — used in candy, baked goods, gelatin, sodas, and breadcrumbs.
• FD&C Blue No. 1 (Brilliant Blue) — the blue in sports drinks, candy, ice cream, and frosting.
• FD&C Blue No. 2 (Indigo Carmine) — used in candy, baked goods, and pet food.
• FD&C Green No. 3 (Fast Green) — found in canned peas, mint-flavored candies, and jellies. Already outright banned in the EU and UK.

These dyes serve no nutritional purpose. Their entire function is cosmetic — to make food look more colorful and appealing than it would be in its natural state. A cereal whose mascot box features bright red and yellow pieces would be pale and beige without them.

The health debate around synthetic food dyes has been contentious for decades, but the scientific picture has become clearer.

The pivotal study came in 2007, when British researchers published a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in The Lancet — funded with £750,000 from the UK's Food Standards Agency. The study enrolled 153 three-year-olds and 144 eight-and-nine-year-olds. Children who consumed drinks containing a mixture of artificial food colors and the preservative sodium benzoate showed significantly increased hyperactivity scores compared with those given placebo drinks. The finding that applied to children in the general population — not just those with ADHD — was the detail that changed the regulatory conversation.

"The effect was seen in the general population, not just in those who are hyperactive." — McCann et al., The Lancet, 2007

A 2012 review in Clinical Pediatrics concluded that synthetic dyes "affect children regardless of whether or not they have ADHD," and that aggregate effects at a classroom or population level could be significant even if per-child effects are relatively modest. Restriction diets excluding artificial food colors have been shown in multiple trials to benefit some children with ADHD symptoms.

The current scientific consensus is carefully worded: synthetic dyes do not cause ADHD, but they can worsen hyperactivity and attention in sensitive children. A 2011 FDA advisory committee acknowledged that while evidence was insufficient to mandate labels for the general population, a subgroup of children — potentially tens of thousands or more in the US — do respond behaviorally to these dyes.

Beyond behavior, there are structural concerns about the dyes themselves. California state scientists have concluded that exposure to Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, and Yellow No. 6 results in "various changes and harm to the brain" in animal studies. Red No. 40 contains trace impurities of p-Cresidine, considered a probable carcinogen, and benzene, a known human carcinogen. These are trace-level concerns, not acute poisoning risks — but they are the kind of concerns that, in the European Union, are enough to trigger warning labels.

The EU's response to the 2007 Lancet study was swift and direct. By 2010, the European Union required a mandatory warning label on any food product containing any of six synthetic dyes — including Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, and Red No. 40 — stating: "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children."

The practical result has been striking. Because the warning label is commercially damaging for products marketed to children and families, most multinational food companies reformulated their EU product lines to use natural colorants — while continuing to sell the same products with synthetic dyes in the United States.

The same Fanta orange soda uses different colorants depending on where it is sold. The same breakfast cereal has different ingredient lists on either side of the Atlantic. The same Skittles candy has undergone reformulation in the UK and EU that has not been applied to the American product.

Green No. 3 goes further — it is not merely labeled but outright banned in the EU and UK. Several other dyes face strict limits or are prohibited in Norway, Switzerland, Japan, and other markets.

On April 22, 2025, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the FDA announced a plan for the food industry to voluntarily phase out the six remaining certified synthetic dyes by end of 2026 or 2027. The FDA also pledged to fast-track the review of natural colorant alternatives and approved three new natural color additives in May 2025: Galdieria extract blue (derived from red algae), butterfly pea flower extract, and calcium phosphate.

The critical word in all of this is "voluntary."

There is no regulatory mandate requiring companies to reformulate by any deadline. There are no penalties for non-compliance. The FDA is relying on industry goodwill and market pressure to drive change — a strategy that carries real risk, given the food industry's documented track record on these commitments. General Mills pledged to remove dyes from its cereals in 2015 and reversed course in 2017. Numerous other companies made pledges in response to consumer pressure in the 2010s that were quietly abandoned.

By February 2026, the EWG publicly characterized the FDA's direction as a "retreat" from the original ban pledge, criticizing a labeling policy shift that allows companies to make "no artificial colors" claims without changing their formulas.

With the federal approach remaining voluntary, states have increasingly moved to fill the gap with binding legislation.

West Virginia moved first and most aggressively. In March 2025, it enacted the nation's first broad statewide ban on synthetic food dyes — covering all seven dyes. Phase 1 took effect August 1, 2025: all seven dyes are now banned from any meal served in a West Virginia school nutrition program. Phase 2 — a statewide ban on all food products — was originally set for January 1, 2028, but has been temporarily blocked by a federal court following a food industry lawsuit.

California requires that any food served in California public schools be free of six synthetic food dyes, effective December 31, 2027. A separate law (AB 418, signed in 2023) has already banned Red No. 3 from all food products sold in the state.

The broader legislative picture is striking. According to EWG's interactive state tracking map launched in March 2026, more than 70 food dye-related bills were introduced across US states in 2025 alone, with more than 15 enacted. Over 25 states have active food dye legislation under consideration.

This state-by-state patchwork creates a complex compliance landscape for food manufacturers. A product sold nationally may legally contain Yellow No. 5 in one state while being prohibited in a school lunch program in another. The only clean solution is reformulation — which is likely exactly the pressure advocates intended to create.

The CSPI's Synthetic Dyes Corporate Commitment Tracker, updated in January 2026, surveyed the top 24 US food and beverage manufacturers by sales and found that only 11 of 24 have pledged to phase out dyes from all their products. Eight of the 24 provided no plan at all.

Among those with commitments:

• Walmart has pledged to eliminate synthetic dyes from all store-brand products by December 31, 2027, requiring reformulation of more than 1,000 products. The retailer says 90% of store-brand food items are already free of artificial colors.
• Nestlé USA, JM Smucker, and Conagra have pledged full phase-out by end of 2027.
• PepsiCo has limited its commitment to foods sold in schools and select product lines.
• General Mills and Kellogg's have made pledges — but both have broken similar commitments before.

Natural colorants are available but come with real trade-offs. A natural red from beet extract or berry anthocyanins costs two to three times more per kilogram than Red No. 40. Many natural pigments are less heat-stable than synthetic dyes, degrading during the high-temperature processing that shelf-stable foods require. Supply chains for natural colorants are also more variable, tied to agricultural output rather than petrochemical production.

Still, 37% of US consumers actively avoid artificial food colorings, according to Innova Market Insights — a share that has grown consistently over the past decade and that gives large manufacturers a strong commercial incentive to move, regardless of regulatory timelines.

Synthetic food dyes are required to be listed by their full certified name on US ingredient labels. Look for:

• FD&C Red No. 40 (sometimes listed as "Red 40")
• FD&C Yellow No. 5 (sometimes listed as "Yellow 5" or "Tartrazine")
• FD&C Yellow No. 6 (sometimes listed as "Yellow 6")
• FD&C Blue No. 1 (sometimes listed as "Blue 1")
• FD&C Blue No. 2 (sometimes listed as "Blue 2")
• FD&C Green No. 3 (sometimes listed as "Green 3")
• FD&C Red No. 3 (being phased out; compliance deadline January 2027)

Products that use natural alternatives will typically list the colorant source: "beet juice extract," "turmeric," "annatto," "spirulina extract," "beta-carotene," or "black carrot concentrate." The presence of these natural colorants on a label is a signal that a manufacturer has already made the shift.

The phase-out is happening — but slowly, unevenly, and with no guarantee of timelines. Until it is complete, synthetic dyes remain in the majority of brightly colored processed foods sold in American stores.

Using IngrediCheck, you can scan any packaged food and instantly see whether it contains FD&C synthetic dyes — Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and the rest — so you can make informed decisions about what you and your family are eating before the phase-out is complete.