General Mills Ditches Artificial Dyes in MAHA Win
General Mills Ditches Artificial Dyes in MAHA Win
The News
General Mills said Wednesday it has removed artificial colors from its entire U.S. cereal lineup, including Lucky Charms and Trix, handing a win to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign against synthetic food dyes.
The Minneapolis company swapped in fruit- and vegetable-based dyes plus colors pulled from spices like turmeric and paprika to keep the boxes as bright as shoppers remember.
General Mills said 90% of its U.S. retail products are now free of artificial dyes, and that the dyes are also gone from all of its K-12 school foods. Holdouts such as some Betty Crocker cake mixes and Fruit Roll-Ups are set to convert by the end of 2027.
Timeline
General Mills strips artificial dyes from Trix.
The company puts them back, saying U.S. customers missed the bright colors.
Kennedy launches a pressure campaign urging big food corporations to drop petroleum-based dyes, according to the Washington Examiner.
The FDA bans Red 3, a petroleum-based dye, after some studies suggested it caused cancer in lab rats. Kennedy and then-FDA Commissioner Marty Makary lay out a plan under which manufacturers voluntarily agree to phase out eight synthetic dyes from all U.S. products by the end of 2026. General Mills separately signs an agreement with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to remove synthetic dyes from all its products by the end of 2027.
Target says it will stop selling cereals containing artificial colors by the end of May. Walmart says it will pull artificial colors from its store brands by January 2027.
WK Kellogg, maker of Froot Loops and Apple Jacks, says it will remove artificial colors from all its U.S. cereals by the end of this year.
General Mills announces the cereal transition is complete.
Reactions
"As the leader in cereal, General Mills is focused on giving people what they are looking for from the brands they know and love," Bethany Quam, president of Big G Cereal at General Mills, said in a statement. "This achievement reflects how we are evolving with consumer needs while continuing to offer food that tastes great, delivers quality and provides value."
Kennedy has framed the fight in blunt terms. "Nobody wants to eat petroleum; everybody knows that caused health problems," he said at a press event. "And so we can act on that now."
Health advocates have pushed for years to get the dyes out, pointing to studies indicating they can cause neurobehavioral problems, including hyperactivity and attention issues, in some children — though the findings have been mixed.
The FDA's position is that approved dyes are safe and that "most children have no adverse effects" from them, while allowing that some children may be sensitive to them.
What's Next
General Mills says the rest of its U.S. retail portfolio — the cake mixes, the fruit snacks — moves to natural dyes by the end of 2027, the same deadline it agreed to with Paxton.
WK Kellogg's cereal switch is due by the end of this year, and Walmart's store-brand deadline lands in January 2027. Under the Kennedy-Makary understanding, manufacturers are supposed to have phased out eight synthetic dyes across all U.S. products by the end of 2026.
More
The pressure is not coming from Washington alone. Retailers are forcing the issue with shelf space, and the last decade offers a warning: when General Mills went natural with Trix in 2015, it reversed course within two years because shoppers wanted the neon back. This time the company is betting the taste and the color hold up.
Kennedy's push against synthetic dyes is part of a broader effort targeting foods he blames for fueling ADHD and cancer rates along with chronic disease such as obesity and heart disease. Mars, Hershey, Campbell's, Kraft Heinz, Nestle, Smucker's and PepsiCo are among the companies that have pledged similar changes, the Washington Examiner reported.
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