The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Thursday it will let companies use “no artificial colors” claims on products without petroleum-based dyes, opening up use of the claim to products with natural colors. The decision, according to a press release, is intended to incentivize companies to transition away from petroleum-based dyes. The change will allow products with colors derived from natural sources to claim they were produced without artificial coloring.
Companies will now have flexibility to claim products contain ‘no artificial colors’ when the products do not contain petroleum-based colors, according to the agency. In the past, companies were generally only able to make such claims when their products had no added color whatsoever — whether derived from natural sources or otherwise.
“We acknowledge that calling colors derived from natural sources ‘artificial’ might be confusing for consumers and a hindrance for companies to explore alternative food coloring options,” said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H. “We’re taking away that hindrance and making it easier for companies to use these colors in the foods our families eat every day.”
