FDA plans to remove petroleum-based food dyes; dietitian explains the impact

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FOX 2 – Now, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the federal government are taking even more action against artificial food dyes—specifically, petroleum-based synthetic dyes.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced new measures this week that will “phase out” all of the categories of dye from the nation’s food supply.

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Dig deeper:

The FDA recently announced plans to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from foods here in the United States due to health concerns which includes a rainbow of colors. How does this change your food?

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“It will not impact the nutritional value, and in turn it will, and should, enhance the nutritional value of the foods,” said Julia Zumpano of the Cleveland Clinic. “It may change the way the foods appear slightly, but nutritionally, it will improve the food as long as what they’re replacing the dyes with are a better alternative.”

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Zumpano is a registered dietitian who says petroleum-based synthetic dyes are typically used to add color to highly processed foods like cookies, candy and cereal.

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Removing them shouldn’t impact the flavor or texture.

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Zumpano says if you want to know whether food has those kinds of dyes in them, you’ll have to look at the ingredient list.

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If there is, it will say FD and C” followed by the color. For example, “F-D and C Blue Number One.”

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Zumpano notes if people stick with eating whole foods, then they won’t need to worry about checking the ingredients.

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“Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean sources of protein, that’s where we really, really want to focus on filling up your diet with foods that are natural one ingredient foods versus looking at processed foods and then really have to dig in deep into the ingredients.

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“Because again, if those foods have the dyes, they’re probably going to have a lot of other synthetic and unnatural ingredients in addition to the dyes that are equally as unhealthy. So, choosing a whole food-based diet is just really a safe way to go.”

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The plan involves multiple steps for healthier alternatives to replace the dyes, although other countries including the UK, have banned most of the dyes the FDA is targeting. 

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