When you think about some of your favorite childhood foods, their bright, fun colors probably come to mind. Vibrant pink and purple fruit juices, bright orange cheese crackers filled with peanut butter, the list goes on and on. But, as much as you may love those nostalgic snacks, there’s a lot of controversy around the artificial dyes that give them their eye-catching colors.
Synthetic dyes have become a hot topic of conversation over the last few years. Recently, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called upon food manufacturing companies to step up to the plate and remove these potentially hazardous chemicals from products by 2027.
While not every company is chomping at the bit to change their recipes, one company is heeding the call: Campbell’s. Beyond their classic soups with the red and white labels, Campbell’s owns countless other brands, including V8, Lance, Archway, Jay’s, and Stella D’oro, just to name a few.
In response to Kennedy’s request, Campbell’s has announced that the company will remove all artificial colors from its wide range of food and beverage products by August 2026 — five months before the requested deadline.
Not every product Campbell’s makes relies on artificial food coloring. In fact, Goldfish has used natural dyes for its adorable fish-shaped cheese crackers for over 15 years, sourcing the color from a mixture of paprika taken from red bell peppers and beet juice. In the year to come, we can expect to see the company doing more of the same, looking to natural colors like annatto and purple carrot juice concentrate to maintain products’ signature colors.
Other companies, including Nestle, Kraft Heinz, and General Mills, have already announced plans to move away from synthetic dyes.