Kraft Heinz announced this Tuesday that it is eliminating artificial dyes from its products, but ketchup fans should expect their Heinz ketchup to stay the bright red color it is today.
“Our iconic Heinz Tomato Ketchup has never had artificial dyes – the red color comes simply from the world’s best tomatoes,” explained Pedro Navio, North America president at Kraft Heinz.
That’s right, there aren’t any food dyes listed in the ingredients for the ketchup that is nearly ubiquitous on tables of diners and burger joints. In fact, The Kraft Heinz Company said in its Tuesday press release that 90% of its products are already free of Food, Drug & Cosmetic (FD&C) colors – that even includes Kraft Mac & Cheese.
“As a food company with a 150+ year heritage, we are continuously evolving our recipes, products, and portfolio to deliver superiority to consumers and customers,” said Navio. “The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors, and we’ve been on a journey to reduce our use of FD&C colors across the remainder of our portfolio.”
This year, newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made cracking down on the use of artificial dyes a national priority. In April, the HHS announced its plan to phase out petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the U.S. food supply.
“These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development,” said Kennedy. “That era is coming to an end. We’re restoring gold-standard science, applying common sense, and beginning to earn back the public’s trust. And we’re doing it by working with industry to get these toxic dyes out of the foods our families eat every day.”
In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned Red Dye 3 over links to cancer, per an Audacy report. While Heinz ketchup gets its color from tomatoes, some other foods such as certain candies and fruit cocktails, got their crimson hue from that dye.
Kraft Heinz said that all FD&C colors will be removed from its products by 2027. Additionally, it said that no new products containing those dyes will be released moving forward. Its also working with licensees of its brands to encourage them to remove FD&C colors
To remove the dyes from its products, the company said it has invested in a team to address the issue with a three-pronged approach. First, the plan to remove colors that are not critical to user experience. Second, the plan on replacing the FD&C colors with natural alternatives. Finally, the plan to reinvent new colors and shades in cases where natural alternatives don’t match.
“Above all, we are focused on providing nutritious, affordable, and great-tasting food for Americans and this is a privilege we don’t take lightly,” Navio said.