RFK Jr. gives food companies ultimatum to remove artificial dyes

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with top executives from Kraft Heinz Co., General Mills Inc. and other food companies Monday and requested they remove artificial dyes before the end of his term.

“Kennedy expects ‘real and transformative’ change by ‘getting the worst ingredients out’ of food,” according to a letter from the Consumer Brands Association that described the meeting and was viewed by Bloomberg News.

Kennedy “made clear his intention to take action unless the industry is willing to be proactive with solutions,” according to the letter, sent by Melissa Hockstad, the chief executive officer of the CBA.

The CBA, an industry group for packaged goods and food, will discuss with HHS staff “about specific expectations they have of the industry and sharing how HHS can help remove roadblocks for the industry to provide solutions.”

Kennedy posted a photo yesterday on X with food industry leaders.

U.S. health officials earlier this year banned the artificial food coloring Red No. 3, which has been linked to cancer and has been used in scores of products from candy to cold medicine.

Other colors remain legal, however, and they’re used in tens of thousands of supermarket and convenience-store products in the U.S., according to NielsenIQ data. Their removal has been a central part of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement.

The criticism follows what health advocates have been saying for years: The synthetic colors add no taste or nutritional value but make unhealthy foods more visually appealing. There are also concerns that the dyes may be carcinogenic or trigger hyperactivity in some children.