J.M. Smucker Co. on June 26 became the fifth major food company to commit to removing suspect food colorings, promising they’ll be out of all consumer food products by the end of calendar year 2027.
“While the majority of the company's consumer foods are already free of FD&C colors, this removal will impact its sugar-free fruit spreads and ice cream toppings as well as certain products from its Hostess brand portfolio,” a statement said.
“In addition, a majority of the company's products currently available to K-12 schools do not contain any FD&C colors, and the company is working with its distribution partners to no longer sell products with FD&C colors to K-12 schools by the 2026/2027 school year.”
That makes five. Kraft Heinz and General Mills announced similar commitments last week, and Nestle USA and Conagra followed suit earlier this week. All seem to be falling in line with the strongly worded April 22 “request” from the Health & Human Services Dept., the FDA’s parent.
All those companies are using the term “FD&C colors” – presumably they mean the seven petroleum-based colorants – Blue 1 & 2, Green 3, Red 3 & 40 and Yellow 5 & 6 – called out by FDA and HHS officials in that April 22 press conference and also earmarked for bans in several states.
Mark Smucker, chairman and CEO, said, “Our commitment to remove FD&C colors from our sugar-free fruit spreads, ice cream toppings and sweet baked goods products represents the latest example of our desire to evolve and our ability to continue to innovate to deliver on the expectations of our consumers. Importantly, this work is ongoing, and we are consistently evaluating consumer behavior to ensure we are addressing any notable changes while maintaining our commitment to offer choice.”
Notable changes in consumer behavior? Perhaps he was referring to General Mills' 2016 switch to natural color sources, such as turmeric, strawberries and radishes, in its colorful Trix cereal in the hope of appealing to parents who were concerned about ingredients in their children’s food.
The cereal’s neon colors were muted, and the blue and green pieces had to go entirely because the company couldn't find natural replacements. In subsequent months, Trix sales declined and Big G went back to synthetic colors a year later.
John Brase, Smucker’s president and chief operating officer, added, "Our teams are working diligently on reformulation planning while evaluating supply considerations to help ensure we continue to deliver products that delight our consumers."
