PITTSBURGH — The Kraft Heinz Co. will remove all Food, Drug & Cosmetic (FD&C) colors from its US product portfolio before the end of 2027, and the company will not launch any new products in the United States with FD&C colors, effective immediately. Nearly 90% of Kraft Heinz product sales in the United States come from products that do not contain FD&C colors such as petroleum-based synthetic food dyes, according to the company.

The Kraft Heinz announcement comes after the US Food and Drug Administration on April 22 said it intends to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from the nation’s food supply by the end of 2026 and work with food and beverage companies to do so. The dyes (all FD&C colors) are Citrus Red No. 2, Orange B, Green No. 3, Red No. 3 and No. 40, Yellow No. 5 and No. 6, and Blue No. 1 and No. 2.

“As a food company with a 150-plus year heritage, we are continuously evolving our recipes, products and portfolio to deliver superiority to consumers and customers,” said Pedro Navio, North America president at Kraft Heinz. “The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors, and we’ve been on a journey to reduce our use of FD&C colors across the remainder of our portfolio. In fact, we removed artificial colors, preservatives and flavors from our beloved Kraft Mac & Cheese back in 2016. Our iconic Heinz Tomato Ketchup has never had artificial dyes – the red color comes simply from the world’s best tomatoes. Above all, we are focused on providing nutritious, affordable and great-tasting food for Americans, and this is a privilege we don’t take lightly.”