The FDA announced its plan to ban artificial food dyes by the end of 2026 earlier this year. Since then, restaurants and fast food chains have the task of potentially reformulating menu items to be in compliance with the ban.
Arby’s has to deal with offending menu items in every category – food, drinks, and desserts. We’ll look at each menu item in detail, but first…
Follow The Coconut Mama
• For fun lists, healthy living tips, and bar conversation topics, make sure to follow The Coconut Mama. Click here to access The Coconut Mama’s profile page and be sure to hit the Follow button here or at the top of this article!
• Have feedback? Add a comment below!
Shutterstock
Before we take a look at the menu items at Arby’s containing the to-be-banned dyes, let’s look at the dyes that are on the chopping block:
- Citrus Red 2
- Orange B
- Red 3
- Red 40
- Yellow 5
- Yellow 6
- Blue 1
- Blue 2
Now let’s jump into the menu for those sneaky dyes…
Shutterstock
You might be as surprised as I am to learn that the brioche buns at Arby’s contain not just one banned food dye, but THREE!
The “egg shade color” used in the brioche bun contains Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Red 40.
Real brioche buns typically include eggs, setting them apart from regular buns. However, Arby’s brioche buns don’t contain eggs, just this egg coloring, which is pretty disappointing…
Shutterstock
If you’re a fan of the Bacon Cheddar Melt or famous Roast Beef sandwiches, don’t worry — those sandwiches don’t use bread with dyes. Let’s look at the menu items that DO use brioche buns:
- Deluxe Burger
- BBQ Bacon Burger:
- Big Cheesy Bacon Burger
- Crispy Chicken Sandwich
- Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
- Chicken Bacon & Swiss
- Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Smokehouse Brisket
Shutterstock
Like the brioche buns, Arby’s uses an “egg shade color” dye in the slider buns. That means that slider buns contain Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Red 40.
Shutterstock
The sliders on Arby’s menu that contain food dyes (because of the pesky bun) include:
- Roast Beef Slider
- Chicken Slider
- Ham Slider
- Buffalo Chicken Slider
- Jalapeño Roast Beef Slider
Shutterstock
The chocolate shake at Arby’s uses Red 40 in the chocolate syrup. Interestingly, the Jamocha shake doesn’t contain any dyes, just caramel color.
The vanilla shake is also sans dyes, so that’s another option without banned ingredients.
Shutterstock
Another Arby’s shake, another banned food dye. The Orange Cream shake uses Yellow 6 for the orange creamsicle-looking color.
Follow The Coconut Mama
• For fun lists, healthy living tips, and bar conversation topics, make sure to follow The Coconut Mama. Click here to access The Coconut Mama’s profile page and be sure to hit the Follow button here or at the top of this article!
• Have feedback? Add a comment below!
Shutterstock
Several fountain drinks offered at Arby’s use banned dyes, so these aren’t on Arby’s to address. It will be interesting to see what soda brands will do with formulations, though!
The fountain drinks with banned dyes include:
- Fanta Orange (Red 40)
- Mello Yellow (Yellow 5)
- Minute Maid Lemonade (Yellow 5)
- Hi-C Flashin Fruit Punch (Red 40)
- Powerade Mountain Berry Blast (Blue 1)
Shutterstock
The good news is that Arby’s is already using natural color sources for several menu items. Here are a couple of examples:
Red Ranch Sauce: instead of red dye, this formulation uses beet juice for color.
Buffalo Sauce: paprika lends its natural red hue instead of synthetic food dyes.
Shutterstock
While Minute Maid lemonade uses yellow dyes, Arby’s strawberry lemonade uses vegetable juice and lycopene (a red pigment that gives tomatoes their red color) instead of Red 40.
Some cheese-flavored products use yellow and red dyes to achieve an orange color. The White Cheddar Mac n Cheese on the Arby’s menu uses turmeric as a natural colorant!
Shutterstock
Like other chain restaurants, Arby’s has some work to do to make its menu compliant with the proposed FDA food dye ban.
It seems easy enough to find bread without added dyes, which will take care of the majority of the offending menu items.
What do you think of the fact that dyes are in the brioche buns and slider buns at Arby’s? Sound off in the comments!
Shutterstock
Leave a Comment