Under Robert F Kennedy, Jr’s Health and Human Services regime, the FDA has been cracking down on artificial dyes in food and drink.
Specifically, they’ve been targeting a group of petroleum-based artificial dyes that give many of our favorite products in the US their distinctive colors. Fortunately, there are many natural alternatives that do a good enough job (my favorite example is Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, which made the switch years ago).
Here are the main targeted dyes that the FDA is trying to get manufacturers to get rid of by the end of 2026:
- Red 40
- Citrus Red 2
- Orange B
- Yellow 5
- Yellow 6
- Green 3
- Blue 1
- Blue 2
And, as promised, here are five very popular drinks with children that currently have these artificial dyes.
Gatorade
As you’ll see with many of these drinks, with Gatorade you can kinda guess the dye used based on the color of the drink. The Berry flavor has Blue 1, the Orange has Yellow 6, the Lemon-Lime has Yellow 5, and the Fruit Punch has Red 40.
Strawberry Nesquik
Strawberry Nesquik gets that Pepto Bismol-like pink color from Red 3. The chocolate milk version doesn’t seem to have any artifical dyes, though.
Sunny D
That Sunny D color that looks like nuclear orange juice can’t be natural, can it? Well, it does have actual orange juice and other juices in it, but the color is enhanced by both Yellow #5 and Yellow #6.
Kool-Aid
When your name is spelled with an artificial “K”, you know there are some artificial colors, right? As two examples, the Cherry version of the drink mix has Red 40 while the Grape has Red 40 and Blue 1 (red and blue make purple, after all!).
Powerade
Like its competitor Gatorade, Powerade has various artifical colors based on the variety. Three examples are: The Mountain Berry Blast has Blue 1, Fruit Punch has Red 40, and Island Burst has Yellow 5 and Red 40.
Check out 7 sodas that also have banned ingredients.
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