Fruit Loops remain artificially brightened. Some Pop-Tarts have faded. Welcome to the ongoing experiment called American breakfast.
The two companies, formed after the split of Kellogg Co. last year, are now facing new regulations on the use of artificial food colors and will be charting their own path in the controversial area of highly processed foods, particularly those designed for children.
Keranov, the snack food maker that makes Pop-Tarts and Rice Krispie Treats, is working to replace artificial additives in some of its products with natural alternatives after the colorings they contain were banned in one state, but breakfast cereal maker WK Kellogg Co. has continued to use the colorings in what are essentially the same products sold in Canada, despite finding a way to avoid them, so it is not yet in violation of the new regulations.
Keranova's move may be a sign of what's to come as food companies work to legislate dye use. Last year, California banned certain chemicals in food and candy from 2027, citing health risks. That included food coloring No. 3 Red, which is already largely banned in Europe. A bill was introduced in the state this year to ban seven more dyes in public schools, including No. 40 Red, No. 5 Yellow, No. 1 Blue and No. 2, which have been linked to cancer, neurobehavioral problems and hyperactivity. Other states are now considering their own bans.
Keranova is currently searching for a replacement for Red No. 3, which is used in Morning Star Farms Veggie Bacon, Pop-Tart Bites and Unicorn Cotton Candy Egg Waffles. “Our research and development team is working to identify a suitable alternative ingredient,” a spokesperson said in an email.
The company is also considering alternatives to the No. 40 dye, which is found in certain Pop-Tarts and Rice Krispie Treats, to ensure it can comply with the regulations if necessary.
The cereals aren't affected by the law (yet) because WK Kellogg's Fruit Loops and Apple Jack both use Red No. 40 instead of Red No. 3. And the company is resisting change because Americans simply don't like the bland options.
The company has spent “significant resources” researching what colors consumers around the world want in their cereal, according to an April 2024 policy statement seen by Bloomberg News. “Our cereal recipes using natural color alternatives have been more well-received in the Canadian market than in the U.S.,” the company said.
Still, the company will have to find an alternative if state laws one day apply to its cereal line. “If faced with applicable federal or state regulatory changes, W.K. Kellogg Co. will of course make the changes necessary to remain in compliance,” the company told Bloomberg.
Sarah Gallo, vice president of product policy at the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group, said all major food manufacturers need to understand what these bans mean for them. Gallo said the industry opposes a “patchwork” approach in which states write their own laws and would prefer all states operate under federal Food and Drug Administration regulations, which say color additives are “safe when used appropriately.” The association is in contact with California lawmakers to share that view, she said. “Food safety is a top priority for our member companies,” she said.
Kellogg claims that more than 80 percent of its cereal sales come from products that are free of the dye in question, but the company continues to use the dye in children's breakfast foods, including its limited-edition glitter-dusted Caticorn and brightly colored Baby Shark cereals, as well as the still-selling blue and red Icy Cereal.
“It's one thing to test preferences on an existing cereal, but creating a whole new cereal with food colorings from scratch is another, and very unethical, step,” said Vani Hari, an activist and author known as the Food Babe, who is part of a coalition pressuring W.K. Kellogg to drop the food colorings.
The ban didn't come out of nowhere. Questions about the safety of food dyes have been swirling within the industry for years. Nearly a decade ago, companies announced they were eliminating artificial colors, not out of safety concerns but because of consumer preference. In 2015, Kellogg said it wanted to eliminate artificial colors from its recipes, Kraft said it would remove them from its signature macaroni and cheese, and General Mills said it would remove artificial colors from its cereals. The following year, Mars announced it would “eliminate all artificial colors from human foods.”
Macaroni and cheese has been the lone success story: Kraft Heinz announced in 2016 that it had eliminated artificial colorings for several months, replacing them with spices like turmeric and paprika, but consumers didn't notice.
But Kellogg's, General Mills, and Mars weren't so lucky: The dyes came back into Trix cereal in 2017. By 2021, Skittles maker Mars had also abandoned the product, stating that consumers wanted the “vibrancy of today's colors” that only artificial colors could provide.
Mars has realized that consumer expectations “vary significantly across markets,” so it's taking a “localized” approach, a spokesperson told Bloomberg. General Mills did not respond to a request for comment.
Carrie Means, co-founder of the health care cost advisory group TruMed and one of the members of the coalition pushing WK Kellogg to remove the dye, said the fight isn't over yet. “We're focused on Kellogg,” she said, “and then we'll move on to the next one.”
