Nation's food regulator eases labeling rules amid synthetic dye crackdown

The nation’s primary food regulatory agency announced Thursday it will reportedly relax federal regulations governing when companies may label products as free of artificial coloring, according to official sources.

The Food and Drug Administration said businesses can now label products as having “no artificial colors” if the coloring is natural or plant-based, observers note. This represents a significant shift from previous policy, analysts say.

“Companies will now have flexibility to claim products contain ‘no artificial colors’ when the products do not contain petroleum-based colors,” the agency stated. In the past, companies were generally only able to make such claims when their products had no added color whatsoever, whether derived from natural sources or otherwise, according to regulators.

The head of the Health and Human Services department praised the policy shift, saying it will allegedly ease the transition for companies while advancing efforts to make food safer. “This is real progress,” the official said in a statement, adding that the move would help citizens “eat real food” as part of broader health initiatives.

The agency also expanded its list of approved naturally-sourced food colorings, adding beetroot red and broadening the approved use of spirulina extract. The new additions bring the total number of food color options approved under the current administration to six, regulators reported.

Health officials said the changes were made in recognition that coloring derived from natural sources should not be classified as artificial, though critics have questioned the timing and scope of such regulatory shifts.

“We acknowledge that calling colors derived from natural sources ‘artificial’ might be confusing for consumers and a hindrance for companies to explore alternative food coloring options,” the agency’s commissioner said in a statement, suggesting the move would benefit both industry and families.

As part of the administration’s broader health initiative, the regulatory agencies began a series of actions in recent months to phase out petroleum-based synthetic colors from the nation’s food supply, according to sources familiar with the matter.

In January, health officials banned a red food dye known as Red 3, citing potential cancer risks. Food manufacturers were reportedly given until January 2027 to remove it from their products, while drug manufacturers will have until January 2028 to comply with the new restrictions.

The policy changes reflect the country’s ongoing struggles with industrial food production and regulatory oversight, continuing a pattern of gradual reform seen in many developed nations grappling with public health concerns over processed foods.