The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., told the leaders of the food industry at a closed door on Monday that wants them to eliminate the artificial color additives of their products at the end of their time in office, according to a memorandum that describes the meeting, which was obtained by ABC News.
At the Washington meeting, which included the CEO of Kellogg’s, Smucker’s and General Mills, Kennedy said it is a priority of the Trump administration to free the food of the artificial dyes of the United States, wrote Melissa Hockstad, president and executive director of the Association of Consumer Brands, a commercial group, who wrote the memo.
Hockstad addressed the memorandum to “CEOS members of the consumer brands.”
“The secretary made clear his intention to take measures unless the industry is willing to be proactive with solutions,” Hockstad wrote.
Kennedy has long defended the artificial coloration of the United States food, and the effort has become a pillar of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before a confirmation hearing of the Senate Health, Work, Labor and Pensions Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, on January 30, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
In January, the food and medication administration revoked its authorization from a red food dye: red No. 3. It is known that dye causes cancer in laboratory animals, but manufacturers allowed to be used for years because scientists did not believe that the risk of cancer in humans at the typically consumed level increased.
The FDA, under the then President Joe Biden, acted after the pressure of consumer defenders.
But a different guy, red No. 40, remains in the market and has not been studied by the FDA in more than 20 years. The FDA and health officials said there is no evidence that it is harmful, and food manufacturers said they need to be able to trust the ingredients generally recognized as insurance.
In the memorandum, Hockstad said that his association will work with HHS leaders to eliminate “obstacles” so that food companies can help fulfill Kennedy’s goal.
“We will work with their teams to obtain the greatest possible alignment on how we move forward and ensure that the industry is positioned in the best possible way as we sail through the next steps forward,” he wrote. “But to underline, the decision time is imminent.”
In this archive photo of October 14, 2015, the United States drug and food administration campus is shown in Silver Spring, MD.
Andrew Harnik/AP, file
A spokeswoman for the Association of Consumer Brands confirmed the authenticity of the letter, which was first reported by BloombergBut he did not provide more comments.
The spokeswoman provided ABC News with a copy of a letter of thanks that Hockstad sent to Kennedy after the meeting.
“The industry undertakes to offer safe, affordable and convenient product options for consumers,” he wrote. “We will get involved with you and the administration of solutions to improve transparency, ensure that ingredient evaluations are based on a risk and risk process and increase the healthiest options for consumers.”
Vani Hari, activist and founder of Food Babe and Truvani, who delivered 400,000 petition signatures to Michigan’s headquarters for Kellogg last year asking the company to eliminate artificial food dyes, applauded Kennedy.
“I have been working on this issue for more than a decade and I am excited that Secretary Kennedy presented an ultimatum,” Hari told ABC News in a statement.
“These food companies have already reformulated their products without dyes in so many countries, now it is time for them to do the same in the United States. Americans deserve the same safest foods as other countries,” he continued.
