Heinz Makes Final Decision on Controversial Ingredient

The Kraft Heinz Company is the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world, with a number of products under its name. 

Some of these products include Kool-Aid, Crystal Light, Jell-O, Capri Sun, Kraft Mac and Cheese and Lunchables, among plenty of others. 

But Kraft Heinz is set to make a big change by the time 2027 ends. 

On Tuesday, the company announced it will remove food dyes from its products by the end of 2027, in an official release from the company. 

"Today, the Kraft Heinz Company announced it will not launch any new products with Food, Drug & Cosmetic (FD&C) colors, effective immediately. The Company also announced it will remove the remaining FD&C colors from its product portfolio before the end of 2027."

The release says that 90% of the products are already free from the FD&C colors, but the company will work towards getting rid of the remaining ones within the next couple of years. 

Pedro Navio, the North American President at Kraft Heinz, released a statement on the decision: 

“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."

Recently, concerns have grown that FD&C is harmful in products. The US FDA says that "FD&C Yellow No. 5 may cause itching and hives in some people," but also clarifies that reactions are rare. 

Nonetheless, Kraft Heinz is making the change to its products. 

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