Synthetic food dyes are added to 1 in 5 packaged foods and drinks sold by top U.S. food manufacturers, a new study says.
The most common dye was Red 40, which was present in 1 out of 7 (14%) products, according to the paper published Wednesday in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
"Products containing synthetic dyes also had a much higher average total sugar content compared to products without synthetic dyes, suggesting that companies are using synthetic food dyes to market sweet foods and beverages," lead researcher Elizabeth Dunford said in a journal news release. She's a nutrition consultant with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Gillings Global School of Public Health.
Red 40 is among eight synthetic dyes that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to remove from the American food supply.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in April it was moving to revoke authorization for the dyes Citrus Red 2 and Orange B, and would work with industry to eliminate Red 40, Green 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1 and Blue 2 from the food supply by the end of 2026.
