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(Reuters) -Kraft Heinz said on Tuesday it would not launch products with artificial colors in the United States effective immediately, and would aim to eliminate synthetic dyes from existing items by the end of 2027.
The Ketchup maker said that nearly 90% of its U.S. product net sales are already free of food, drug & cosmetic colors — also known as artificial colors or synthetic dyes.
This move comes a few months after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. outlined plans to remove synthetic food dyes from the U.S. food supply as part of a broader move to address chronic diseases and conditions such as obesity among Americans.
Many packaged food companies, including W.K. Kellogg and Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN), have been working on reformulating existing products and introducing new items without artificial dyes.
In early June, Walmart-owned Sam’s Club said it would eliminate over 40 ingredients, including artificial colors and aspartame, from its private label brand Member’s Mark, by the end of this year.
Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) said that for the small portion of products that currently contain artificial colors it plans to remove the dyes where they are not critical, or replace them with natural colors.
The Jell-O maker added that it would also look to reinvent products with new colors where a matching natural replacement is not available. It said the company was also working with its brand licensees to encourage them to remove artificial colors as well.