In April 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its plan to phase out popular artificial food dyes used in processed foods and drinks. While it’s not an all-out ban (yet), the FDA is asking food and beverage manufacturers to switch to more natural alternatives by the end of 2026. Let’s look at all of those dyes so you know what to look for…
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The food dyes the FDA is hoping manufacturers will voluntarily ban include:
- Citrus Red 2
- Orange B
- Red 3
- Red 40
- Yellow 5
- Yellow 6
- Blue 1
- Blue 2
Now, let’s look specifically at Costco!
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Costco is a popular membership warehouse club, with over 600 locations in the United States (and growing). There are plenty of nutritious food options at Costco (they’re known for their organic offerings, for instance), but a few of your go-to bulk food items might have added food dyes. There are new items at Costco being added all the time, too!
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This list won’t include every single item at Costco that has the banned food dyes, especially since warehouse stock varies among stores and regions. Because of that, it’s helpful to know how you can spot added food dyes for foods, drinks, and other products at ANY store, not just Costco!
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The good news is that checking for banned food dyes is pretty simple. Look at the ingredients list (at the bottom of the nutrition facts label) and go towards the end of the list where dyes are typically listed. Look for any of the banned dyes (Red 40, Blue 1, etc.) – if you see it, it’s in that product!
You won’t have to check for food dyes in these next foods and drinks at Costco because they all contain them! Let’s get started…
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Sports drinks like Gatorade and Costco’s own Kirkland brand contain food dyes to give the drinks their blue, red, and orange colors. The dyes in these drinks typically contain:
- Red 40
- Blue 1
- Yellow 6
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If you get candy in bulk at Costco (I know I do for Halloween!), watch out for some of these popular candies that rely on food dyes to give them their bright, bold colors.
- Skittles
- M&Ms
- Ring Pops
- Twizzlers
- Fruit-flavored candy (Starburst, Nerds, jelly beans, etc.)
- Certain types of fruit snacks (e.g. Gushers – but there are plenty of dye-free fruit snacks at Costco, too!)
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There are plenty of whole food and dye-free breakfast options at Costco. However, if you want to avoid the banned food dyes, stay away from popular breakfast foods like:
- Pop Tarts (the filling contains food dye like Red 40)
- Certain types of cereal (Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, etc.) – these contain dyes like red 40, blue 1, yellow 5
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Whether you like sweet or savory snacks, they can be a source of hidden food dyes. Here are a couple of examples of snacks at Costco with banned dyes:
- JJ’s Bakery Cherry Pie (Red 40)
- Doritos (Red 40, Blue 1, and/or Yellow 5/6 depending on the flavor)
- Little Bites Party Cake Muffins (Blue 1 in the sprinkles)
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• 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!
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Costco doesn’t publish the ingredients for some of its food court items. However, most sources (including dye-free groups) conclude that the food court options are dye-free.
(The biggest question mark is the strawberry sauce for the sundae, but it looks like it only contains strawberries for the color!)
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You might be wondering why other colored food items at Costco weren’t included on this list. Several foods at Costco utilize natural sources for coloring, such as beet powder instead of red dye and turmeric instead of yellow dye. We’ll likely see more natural coloring come into formulation as the target for the dye ban approaches, so keep your eye out for changing ingredient lists!
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Let’s look at those main categories of foods and drinks with dyes at Costco again:
- Sports drinks
- Candy
- Breakfast foods (e.g. Pop Tarts and certain cold cereals)
- Snacks (like certain chips and desserts)
Given all of this, I have one last question for you…
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Does this change anything about your Costco shopping plans? Were any of your go-to items on this list? Let me know in the comments!
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