FDA Relaxes Rules on 'No Artificial Colors' Claims, Allowing Natural Dyes

The FDA has announced a significant shift in its approach to food coloring claims, allowing companies greater flexibility in labeling products as containing "no artificial colors" when they use natural dyes instead of petroleum-based alternatives. This policy change, detailed in a recent press release from the Department of Health and Human Services, represents a major departure from previous regulations that required products to have no added color whatsoever to make such claims.

The new enforcement discretion means that food manufacturers can now market products with natural color additives—derived from vegetables, spices, or insects—as "no artificial colors" products. This change comes alongside the FDA's approval of new color options, including beetroot red and expanded use of spirulina extract, bringing the total number of new food color options approved under the current administration to six.

Natural color additives undergo industrial processing to extract and stabilize pigments. While videos explaining these processes are available, the health implications remain complex. Natural colors aren't associated with behavioral problems in children like some petroleum-based dyes have been, but they're not necessarily safer either. According to Time, natural sources may be treated with pesticides and herbicides and are prone to contamination with bacteria and other pathogens. Manufacturers process these natural products with various solvents—some of which could remain in the final coloring and contribute to negative health effects.

Another consideration is efficiency: it generally takes more natural color than synthetic color to achieve the same shade in a final food product. This raises questions about whether the shift to natural colors truly represents progress or simply trades one set of concerns for another.

Perhaps most importantly, color additives—regardless of their source—serve as indicators of ultra-processing. Candy and cereals made with colors extracted from natural sources remain ultra-processed foods. The fundamental purpose of food colors, whether petroleum-based or natural, is entirely cosmetic: they make foods look more appealing and appear to taste better. This is precisely why the food industry values added colors.

The timing of this policy change is noteworthy, coming amid broader discussions about food safety and health. While removing petroleum-based colors may reduce certain risks, the question remains whether this change will meaningfully contribute to improving public health. As the FDA tracks industry pledges to remove petroleum-based food dyes, the cosmetic nature of these additives suggests that their removal, while potentially beneficial, addresses only one aspect of a much larger food quality issue.

This regulatory shift reflects a growing consumer demand for "cleaner" ingredients, even as it highlights the complexity of defining what constitutes a truly natural or healthy food product in an industrial food system.