Nestlé says it will remove artificial dyes from US foods by 2026

Nestlé said Wednesday it will eliminate artificial colors from its US food and beverages by the middle of 2026. It’s the latest big food company making that pledge. Last week Kraft Heinz and General Mills said they would remove artificial dyes from their US products by 2027.

General Mills also said it plans to remove artificial dyes from its US cereals and from all foods served in K–12 schools by the middle of 2026. The move has broad support. About two-thirds of Americans favor restricting or reformulating processed foods to remove ingredients like added sugar or dyes, according to an AP-NORC poll. Both California and West Virginia have recently banned artificial dyes in foods served in schools.

On Sunday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed a bill requiring foods made with artificial dyes or additives to contain a new safety label starting in 2027. The label would say they contain ingredients not recommended for human consumption in Australia, Canada, the European Union, or the UK. The federal government is also stepping up its scrutiny of artificial colors.

In January, days before President Donald Trump took office, the US regulators banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation’s food supply nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk. In April, Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency would take steps to eliminate synthetic dyes by the end of 2026, largely by relying on voluntary efforts from the food industry.

Nestlé has pledged to remove artificial dyes before. Early in 2015, the company said it would remove artificial flavors and colors from its products by the end of that year. But the promise didn’t hold.

Nestlé said Wednesday it’s been removing synthetic dyes from its products over the last decade and 90 percent of its US portfolio doesn’t contain them. Among those that do is Nesquik Banana Strawberry milk, which is made with Red 3. Nestlé said Wednesday it wants to evolve with its US customers’ changing nutritional needs and preferences.

“Serving and delighting people is at the heart of everything we do and every decision that we make,” Nestlé’s US CEO Marty Thompson said in a statement.