You might not even think of it, but many of America’s favorite foods and drinks are easily recognizable because of their distinctive colors. Unfortunately, some of these colors aren’t natural and come in the form of artificial food dyes.
Artificial food dyes are slated to be banned starting in 2026, which means many all-American favorites will need to undergo significant reformulation to comply with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. We’ll look at five examples of such foods and drinks in this article.
Before we dive into the list, let’s look at the details of this proposed ban to get you caught up to speed!
Food dye ban
Under the guidance of Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the FDA is encouraging food and beverage manufacturers to begin phasing out the use of artificial food dyes.
The FDA hasn’t issued an all-out ban on food dyes yet. As of now, it’s considered a “voluntary ban” that the FDA hopes major food manufacturers will start to abide by shortly…and many already have!
The dyes that are slated to be banned by the end of 2026 are below. (Sometimes the dyes will have ‘FD&C’ before their names, but it’s the same dye with or without the FD&C part.)
- Citrus Red 2
- Orange B
- Green 3
- Red 3
- Red 40
- Yellow 5
- Yellow 6
- Blue 1
- Blue 2
Dyes in the American diet
America isn’t known for its healthy eating patterns. Unlike some parts of Europe, which are known for longevity and Mediterranean-style diets, America is known for its over-reliance on processed foods and sugar. (This doesn’t apply to all Americans by any means, but it’s the overall pattern compared to healthier countries.)
Because many of America’s favorite foods and drinks contain dyes, they are subject to the potential ban coming up next year. Let’s look at X of these All-American foods now.
5 All-American Foods with banned ingredients
#1: Blizzards
Dairy Queen is known for its blizzards (and the guarantee that the ice cream concoction is so thick that it won’t fall out when the cup is turned upside down).
Many of the ingredients in Dairy Queen’s Blizzards are loaded with food dyes. Some of the flavors impacted by the food dye ban include:
- M&M Blizzard
- Mint Oreo Blizzard
- Confetti Cake Blizzard
- Royal New York Cheesecake Blizzard
Psst…the food dye ban will also apply to popular ice cream flavors among most brands, like Cotton Candy, Rainbow Sherbet, and Mint Chocolate Chip.
Other non-Blizzard menu items have food dyes as well, so BLizzards aren’t the only culprits.
#2: Arby’s Sandwiches
Arby’s has been one of America’s top-selling fast food restaurant chains. (It’s considered the second-largest sandwich chain after Subway!)
Unfortunately, sneaky dyes are added to the buns (of all things!) on some of Arby’s sandwiches. The “egg shade” dye is added to the brioche buns, which are used in the following sandwiches:
- Deluxe Burger
- BBQ Bacon Burger:
- Big Cheesy Bacon Burger
- Crispy Chicken Sandwich
- Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
- Chicken Bacon & Swiss
- Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Smokehouse Brisket
The brioche buns are also used in the sliders:
- Roast Beef Slider
- Chicken Slider
- Ham Slider
- Buffalo Chicken Slider
- Jalapeño Roast Beef Slider
#3: Gatorade
Owned by PepsiCo, Gatorade is a leading brand in sports drinks. Containing electrolytes and sugar, the flavors of Gatorade are easily distinguished by their colors. And yes, those colors come from none other than artificial dyes.
Some of the dyes used in Gatorade include Red 40, Blue 1, and Yellow 5.
#4: Breakfast cereals
Sugary, brightly-colored breakfast cereals (especially those targeted towards kids) are a major source of artificial food dyes. Fortunately, many cereal brand giants like General Mills and Kellogg’s have jumped on the dye-free bandwagon, pledging to remove dyes from popular cereals like Froot Loops and Lucky Charms by the end of 2027.
Just to show how many dyes these cereals contain as of now, let’s look at the ingredient list for Froot Loops (Kellogg’s), with the dyes in bold:
- Corn flour blend (whole grain yellow corn flour, degerminated yellow corn flour)
- Sugar
- Wheat flour
- Whole grain oat flour
- Modified food starch
- Contains 2% or less of vegetable oil (hydrogenated coconut, soybean, and/or cottonseed)
- Oat fiber
- Maltodextrin
- Salt
- Soluble corn fiber
- Natural flavor
- Red 40
- Yellow 5
- Blue 1
- Yellow 6
- (plus added vitamins and minerals)
#5: Cotton candy
There’s not much to cotton candy – it’s just air and colored sugar, which is melted and spun into an interesting cottony texture.
That colored sugar is colored with – you guessed it – artificial dyes. Dye-free cotton candy does exist, but it’s harder to come by than your traditional cotton candy found at fairs and the like. (Dye-free cotton candy is often an off-white color because there isn’t any color added, even from natural sources.)
Summary
There you have it – five examples of popular foods and drinks in America that contain to-be-banned ingredients in the form of food dyes. This list isn’t exhaustive by any means, but includes:
- Dairy Queen Blizzards
- Certain Arby’s sandwiches
- Gatorade
- Certain breakfast cereals
- Cotton candy
What do you think of the proposed food dye ban? Would a different appearance (by using natural ingredients for colors, or skipping colors altogether) impact your perception of some of these foods? Why or why not? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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