USA | The US Food and Drug Administration has granted three new colour additive petitions, expanding the palette of available colours from natural sources for manufacturers to safely use in food.
The FDA is in line with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s priority to phase out petroleum-based dyes in the nation’s food supply as part of the administration’s broader initiative to Make America Healthy Again.
"For too long, our food system has relied on synthetic, petroleum-based dyes that offer no nutritional value and pose unnecessary health risks. We’re removing these dyes and approving safe, natural alternatives to protect families and support healthier choices,” said HHS Secretary Kennedy.
Since the HHS and FDA announcement last month during a press conferenceExternal Link Disclaimer at HHS on petroleum-based food dyes, more US food manufacturers have committedExternal Link Disclaimer to removing them within the FDA’s set time frame of the end of next year.
The colour additive petitions approved are for:
Galdieria extract blue, a blue colour derived from the unicellular red algae Galdieria sulphuraria.
The FDA has approved the colour additive for use in nonalcoholic beverages and beverage bases, fruit drinks, fruit smoothies, fruit juices, vegetable juices, dairy-based smoothies, milk shakes and flavoured milks, yogurt drinks, milk-based meal replacement and nutritional beverages, breakfast cereal coatings, hard candy, soft candy and chewing gum, flavoured frostings, ice cream and frozen dairy desserts, frozen fruits, water ices and popsicles, gelatin desserts, puddings and custards, and whipped cream, yogurt, frozen or liquid creamers (including non-dairy alternatives), and whipped toppings (including non-dairy alternatives). The petition was submitted by the French company Fermentalg.
Butterfly pea flower extract, a blue colour that can be used to achieve a range of shades including bright blues, intense purple, and natural greens.
Produced through the water extraction of the dried flower petals of the butterfly pea plant, this colour additive is already approved for use in sports drinks, fruit drinks, fruit and vegetable juices, alcoholic beverages, dairy drinks, ready-to-drink teas, nutritional beverages, gums, candy, coated nuts, ice creams, and yogurt.
This approval of a petition by St. Louis-based Sensient Colours LLC has expanded the approved use for colouring ready-to-eat cereals, crackers, snack mixes, hard pretzels, plain potato chips (restructured or baked), plain corn chips, tortilla chips, and multigrain chips.
Calcium phosphate, a white colour approved for use in ready-to-eat chicken products, white candy melts, doughnut sugar, and sugar for coated candies. The petition was filed by Innophos Inc. of Cranbury, New Jersey.
Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Chapter VII, section 721), colour additives are subject to FDA approval to determine whether they are safe before they may be used in food.
The FDA has determined whether an additive is safe to use by considering the projected human dietary exposure to the colour additive, the additive’s toxicological data, and other relevant information, such as published literature. Once the FDA has approved a colour additive petition, any manufacturer can use the colouring for the approved uses.
