Federal Oversight of Food Dyes Expected Amidst State-Level Regulatory Push
While some states are enacting legislation to restrict certain food dyes, the broader food industry anticipates federal intervention to establish a uniform national standard. This comes as manufacturers face challenges in complying with varying state-specific regulations, potentially impacting supply chains and logistics.
Jose, a proponent of eliminating food additives linked to health concerns, expresses apprehension regarding some policy stances that he believes promote unscientific claims, especially when extended to areas like vaccines, drugs, and COVID-19. He points to proposals targeting seed oils, such as soybean and safflower, as an example, noting a lack of evidence to support claims of public health dangers associated with them.
In contrast, John Hewitt, a lobbyist for the Consumer Brands Association, suggests that some legislation limiting food dyes might potentially be unnecessary, as not all such ingredients pose a health risk. He highlights that food dyes have received approval for consumption, and many major food producers, including Nestle, Kraft Heinz, and Kellogg, along with the ice cream industry, have already committed to removing artificial dyes from their products in response to consumer demand.
Hewitt emphasizes the logistical difficulties for national brands in managing different recipes and packaging for individual states.”Supply chain and logistics get to be very challenging when we have state specific requirements,” he stated.
This complexity has lead many experts to believe that the Food and Drug Management (FDA) will eventually need to intervene and implement new regulations to create a consistent national standard, going beyond its current ban on Red no. 3 and its request for the voluntary phase-out of other synthetic food dyes.
steve Mandernach, head of the Association of Food and Drug Officials, which represents state and local memberships, suggests that a stricter national standard is desired by some consumers, and pushing the FDA to act may have been the original intention behind these state bills.
However, Mandernach does not anticipate a rapid disappearance of synthetic dyes from food products, even if new national bans are enacted. He explains that manufacturing processes and consumer expectations, such as for pastel-green mint chip ice cream, do not change instantaneously. “The thoght that all dyes will be out of food quickly is probably just not a reality … it’s going to take a long time to make that happen,” he commented.
