Hershey Co. becomes the sixth company to promise it will remove synthetic color additives from its products, citing the growing number of state laws that will ban or otherwise restrict color additives. The dyes should be out by the end of 2027.
“There is a patchwork of state regulations emerging that is creating confusion and will ultimately increase consumer costs,” a Hershey spokesperson was quoted by Bloomberg News. “Removing these colors is a natural next step in our program to ensure consumers have options to fit their lifestyle while maintaining trust and confidence in our products.”
It wasn't an official announcement, although Hershey did confirm it to us. The company didn’t specify which products might be affected, but it’s likely to hit the sugar candies, not chocolates. Scans of their ingredient statements indicate the presence of the synthetic dyes in products branded Jolly Rancher, Good & Plenty and Twizzlers.
There has been a growing chorus of state laws banning color additives and other ingredients since California passed a 2024 law banning Red 40, Yellow 5 & 6, Blue 1 & 2 and Green 3 from foods served in public schools after Dec. 31, 2027. An earlier state law banned Red 3 from all products starting Jan. 1, 2027.
Perhaps the final straw was the April 22 press conference when Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others asked – albeit strongly – for processors to remove the “petroleum-based” color additives “by the end of next year.”
Hershey follows nearly identical moves by, in order of announcement, Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Nestlé USA, Conagra and J.M. Smucker.
