On Saturday, Just the News posted an article about a recent announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The article reports:
Butterfly pea flower extract, Galdieria extract blue, and calcium phosphate have now received approval or expanded approval for use in a variety of snacks and beverages, the latest step forward in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s plan to substitute synthetic dyes.
“For too long, our food system has relied on synthetic, petroleum-based dyes that offer no nutritional value and pose unnecessary health risks,” Kennedy said in a statement. “We’re removing these dyes and approving safe, natural alternatives – to protect families and support healthier choices.”
In April, the FDA and HHS announced a phaseout timeline for petroleum-based food additives – which are correlated with several health problems in children – and promised to accelerate the approval process of natural alternatives to assist the transition.
The American food industry has until the end of 2025 to remove Green No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, Blue No. 1 and Blue No. 2 from their products, as The Center Square reported.
A website called foodbabe.com has a few pictures showing labels of American foods and the labels of those same foods in other countries. There are a lot of ingredients in American foods that are banned in other countries.
Here are two examples:
I consider ketchup one of the basic food groups. It is available locally with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. However, generally speaking, the stuff you get in restaurants is the high fructose corn syrup variety.
The article at Just the News concludes:
Calcium phosphate, a natural compound found in bones and teeth, is now approved for use of white colorant in ready-to-eat chicken products, white candy melts, doughnut sugar, and sugar for coated candies.
“On April 22, I said the FDA would soon approve several new color additives and would accelerate our review of others,” FDA Commissioner Martin Makary said Friday. “FDA staff have been moving quickly to expedite the publication of these decisions, underscoring our serious intent to transition away from petroleum-based dyes in the food supply and provide new colors from natural sources.”
I am looking forward to having to read fewer labels when I shop!